Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time
by The King in the N0rth
Summary: Awakening in the crumbling ruins of a once-great city now known as Satellite, a young man with no memory of his past or who he is is thrust into a battle for the fate of the world thousands of years in the making. Wielding the power of Fusion in a time where Synchros reign supreme, he sets out to make his mark and find out who he is, where he came from, and what lies ahead of him.
1. Chapter 1: A Hero Out of Time

**Chapter 1: A Hero Out of Time**

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**Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape or form hold any sort of ownership over the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, and I likely never will.**

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_A sharp, painful jolt struck my chest. Cold, cruel laughter rang in my ears as my consciousness slipped away and the world around me went black. The last thing that I remembered before my vision went completely dark… was the horrid feeling of betrayal creating a dull, throbbing agony in the pit of my stomach._

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I slept for a long time after that—or at least, what felt like sleep. It was deep, and dark, and I think that I dreamt, at least a little bit, though whatever it was I forgot it when I woke up. My eyes lazily flutter open, though the light of the sun pierces them and forces me to squeeze them tightly shut again. The shooting pain in my eyes travels to the back of my head, and I raise a hand to my forehead; it feels as if I haven't seen the sunlight in weeks, months, years maybe.

With my free hand, I grope along the ground, crawling across cold, smooth pavement as I search for a good place to set my hand down. I turn so that my stomach is facing the ground and my eyes are away from the sun; after a minute, they begin to register my surroundings.

The area around me is dirty, very dirty, and covered in a grimy film that makes me wonder if the sensation I'm feeling through my hands is actually pavement or… something worse. Crumbling, decrepit buildings stand in close quarters around me, like ancient sentinels from a long-forgotten era. Junk and other types of waste are strewn about in various states of decay, giving the impression that this place has not seen a garbage pickup in quite some time.

"…Where am I?" the words form on the tip of my tongue and roll out in a hoarse, croaky voice that I'm surprised to know belongs to me. I sputter out a cough, before taking a deep, wheezy breath and then spitting onto the ground. I'm suddenly aware of how dry and sore my throat is as I push myself up to sit back on my knees.

A shard of reflective broken glass lies not too far away from me; I reach out with my left hand and grab it, taking care not to cut myself on the jagged edge. I raise it up and look into it, examining what must be my face. "And… who am I?" I ask finally.

I don't know exactly what to make of my face, other than that though there may be others like it, this one is mine; the eyes I look into are a stormy gray-blue, like the sea; my skin is fair, and a light coating of freckles are dusted across my nose; a mane of shaggy brown hair frames either side of my oval-shaped face, a tangle of chocolate vines that have been as of yet untamed by sharp objects and tumble down to my neck; and to top it off, a short nose that appears to have been broken at least once but has long since healed.

I tilt the shard downward so that I can examine my body; I'm relatively tall, from what I can gather, and of a rather average build that seems like it might have once been more toned. My clothing is actually quite plain, a long-sleeved gray shirt and sweatpants, though on my right arm I have a rather curious device; the main part of the body is a silver and shaped like a comma, with a tarnished blue dome in the center of it that must have once gleamed and a slot filled with a deck of cards; tucked into it is an extension of it that looks somewhat like a blade, with one end ending in a smaller circle with another blue dome in it, the other end ending in a sharp point that then cuts backward at an angle and continues along the length of the blade. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it makes me feel more at ease knowing that it's there.

I dropped the shard to the ground and began looking around again. Several alleys made gaps in between buildings, though most of them were dead ends or completely filled with trash to the point where I probably couldn't pass through them even if I wanted to. Finally I see a definite way out of this cage of buildings, a rather wide lane leading out into a much larger area with the decaying ruins of a tunnel opening several yards away.

"Oh man…" I say, stretching my arms and back. "Well… no use sitting around all day. Might as well try and find someone who can tell me where the hell I am."

Before I can start walking though, a flash of orange turns down the lane and bolts my direction before coming to a sudden stop and hugging the wall. Looking down the lane I see several men dressed in ripped leather clothes run past; I get the sudden sense that they're trouble. Turning my head to the orange flash that rocketed my way just moments ago, I see that it's actually a kid with bushy red-orange hair and a yellow cap standing there against the wall, breathing heavily.

"Hey, uh… you okay?" I ask, looking at the kid. It's hard to tell if they're a boy or a girl based just off their appearance, as they also wear a long, patched light-blue coat over a too-big orange shirt and what almost looks like a skirt.

The kid whips around with wide eyes and looks like they're about to have a heart attack, putting one hand on their chest and the other against the wall. They look like an animal that's been cornered by a predator, though when they realize, probably by my clothing, that I'm not affiliated with those thugs who ran past, they noticeably calm down. "Jeez! You scared me half to death!" the kid says; judging by the voice, I'm going to make an assumption that they're a boy.

"Sorry," I say apologetically, though I can't deny I rather enjoyed making him jump like that. "I didn't mean to startle you. Did I interrupt a game? I can call them back if you want…"

The boy's eyes widened even more at that and he hurried out, "No! No need for that!" and he laughed nervously, raising a hand to rub his neck, disappearing behind the thick curtain of red-orange hair. "Uh… I'm Rally." I don't say anything. "So, uh… what's your name?"

"I'm… not sure," I admit, raising my arms and folding them behind my head. "To be completely honest, I'm not really sure where I am either."

"Well, I can answer the second one for you!" Rally says, perking up. "You're in the Satellite!"

"Satellite…?"

"Yeah! This place used to be called Domino City, but that was a long time ago," Rally replies. "So… you really don't know your own name? You're not messing with me, are you?"

I shake my head. "I really don't," I say. "All I know is that I woke up here probably less than five minutes ago. I had this thing on my arm, and then you showed up." I look around at the area we're in. _The Satellite, huh? Or Domino City…_ the name Domino City resonates in my mind for some reason that I cannot explain.

"Wait—maybe you have amnesia! That's a bit of a toughie… if only we had something that might trigger some memories," Rally says thoughtfully, staring at the ground; then he looks up, his eyes focusing on the device on my arm. "Oh! You have a Duel Disk! Does that mean you're a duelist?!"

"Is that what this thing is? A Duel Disk?" I ask, staring at the device as well.

"Well, yeah! It's on your arm, don't you know what it is?" Rally asks, walking forward. He looks at it closely, as if appraising it. "…This is an old one, too. Does that mean you're a collector or something then?"

"I think we have already established that I don't know," I respond, though I try to keep it kind; sarcasm isn't going to help here, not when he's trying to help me like this.

Rally put a hand to his chin in thought, then snapped the fingers on the hand that did not cradle his face. "I've got it! There's cards in there, so unless you just enjoy walking around with a deck of cards, I'd wager you _have_ to be a duelist!" he says excitedly, a smile lighting up his face. "Maybe a duel will help you remember things!"

"Could work," I agree. "Thanks for the idea, Rally. Are you one too, then? A duelist?"

"You bet~ although, I don't have my cards or Duel Disk with me right now," he said, a bit embarrassed. "Wait here! I'll be right back, so don't go anywhere!"

_Oh, don't worry about that,_ I think as he hurries off, his long coat trailing behind him. _I don't think I'll be going off in this… landfill. Not without someone who knows the place._

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Rally makes good on his word; he is back rather quickly, carrying a smaller, less streamlined version of the device on my arm, and instead of one singular blade it has two blades on either side of the main pod. He attaches it to his own and stops about two or three yards in front of me, pressing a button on it. The blades on either side snap together and he holds it out in front of him.

"Alright, stranger! Let's get this duel going!" Rally exclaims.

Noting how he had pressed a button on his Duel Disk to activate it, I fumble across mine for a similar one and find it just beside the blue dome on the main pod. The device flares to life, the tarnished blue dome bursting into a vibrant royal blue color, with a secondary portion of the blade popping out from the main half. The cards in the slot shuffle themselves, and about five of them pop out immediately.

_**Stranger: 4000 LP / Rally: 4000 LP**_

_4000 LP _pops into view in a display over the deck slot of my Duel Disk. I take the five cards that were slid out and hold them, looking at them closely. Two of the cards I am given are an orange color, one is a yellow, and two others are a light green. Looking at the text on the top of the cards, I read: Elemental Hero Woodsman, Wroughtweiler, Elemental Hero Clayman, H – Heated Heart, and De-Fusion.

I don't have any clue what these cards do, but the sight of them sets me at ease.

"Since you're the amnesiac here, I'll let you go first," Rally offers.

"Ah… no, it's fine. You first," I reply. Maybe from watching him, I'll get a better clue of what I'm actually doing here.

"Oh, alright then~ I'll make the first move! I draw!" Rally says, placing a hand on his deck slot and quickly withdrawing a card from the top of it. "I'll start out by summoning my Cannon Soldier in attack mode!" he says, taking a card from his hand and sliding it onto a slot in his Duel Disk.

I'm stunned in that moment; a green portal opens up in the ground and a large mechanical creature with a purple body and arms, a golden 'T' on its chest, gold protrusions similar to shoulder pads, and a large gun mounted atop its head rises from the portal. Four silver claws on each hand clamp together as it takes aim with its gun. **(Cannon Soldier: Level 4, DARK, Machine-type; 1400 ATK/1300 DEF)**

"I'll set a card face-down, then end my turn from there! Your move!" Rally concludes.

Though I was initially awestruck at the sudden appearance of the monster, I calm down quickly. There was something familiar here, though I can't place my finger on it. "My move then," I agree, drawing a card: Elemental Hero Ice Edge. I frown as I peruse my hand, reading effects. Rally might be getting a little impatient with me, but I hope he's okay with it. Something keeps drawing my choosing hand back to Elemental Hero Woodsman.

"I summon my Elemental Hero Woodsman, in attack mode!" I call out, taking the card and sliding it onto my Duel Disk. That same green portal opens up again, and a man about a foot taller than myself appears; he has a muscular, well-toned body, with green skin on half his body and then brown wood covering the other half, with a brown loincloth covering the lower half of his body. **(Elemental Hero Woodsman: Level 4, EARTH, Warrior-type; 1000 ATK/2000 DEF)**

Now, I don't have to be a genius to figure out that this will be a battle of math skills next, and Woodsman can't stack up to Cannon Soldier in that matter. This prompts me to play my next card: "I play the Magic Card, H – Heated Heart! This increases the ATK of Elemental Hero Woodsman by 500 points!"

A burning aura surrounds Elemental Hero Woodsman. **(Elemental Hero Woodsman: 1000 ATK **** \- 1500 ATK)**

"Now, Woodsman! Attack his Cannon Soldier!" I call out, and immediately my monster springs into action, winking at me before lunging forward and rearing back his wood-covered fist, delivering a devastating strike to the core of Cannon Soldier, who explodes into a billion pixels. Woodsman leaps back to his position in front of me.

The pixels fly through the air like shattered glass toward Rally, and he covers himself with his arms to avoid any serious damage.

_**Stranger: 4000 LP / Rally: 3900 LP**_

"I end my turn there," I say.

"Not bad, not bad!" Rally compliments as he draws another card. "I summon my Heavy Mech Support Platform in defense mode!"

Yet another portal opens up, and a red and black spaceship rises up out of it. The ship has a large fin on its rear, sort of like a mechanical dolphin, and several thrusters as well as clamping arms that make it appear as if it should be a part of a larger object rather than a standalone monster. **(Heavy Mech Support Platform: Level 3, DARK, Machine-type; 500 ATK/500 DEF)**

"Next, I'll flip up my face-down card: Machine Duplication!" Rally states, as the card he had set last turn is flipped face-up, revealing a magic card showing the image of machines on an assembly line. "I select one Machine-type monster on my side of the field with 500 or less ATK, then I can Special Summon up to two more monsters with that same name!"

Two more portals opened up on either side of his monster, and identical ships flew out of them, stopping their thrusters and just levitating in midair.

"Finally, I'll play my spell card, Goblin Thief! To put it simply, my goblin friend here—" Rally motions to a rather fat, green-skinned goblin who appears behind his Support Platforms, then began cartoonishly tiptoeing over to my side of the field—"he's going to take 500 of your Life Points and give them to me!"

I feel a sharp pain in my side as the goblin punches me, then runs exaggeratedly back to Rally's side of the field before opening his hands to him, and a green aura briefly surrounds him.

_**Stranger: 3500 LP / Rally: 4400 LP**_

"From there, I end my turn!"

I draw another card and add it to my hand; the card I have just drawn is a monster, bearing the name of Elemental Hero Voltic. The image depicts a well-muscled man in blue-purple armor with yellow lines extending from his strapping torso and following along his arms and legs; his helmet is spiked with a thunderbolt on it, and a cloud of electricity surrounds him.

"I summon Elemental Hero Voltic, in attack mode!" I declare, taking the card that I have just drawn and sliding it into the slot beside Woodsman. Yet another portal appears, and with it comes a loud boom of thunder; the muscular man in blue-purple armor bursts forth, striking a pose with his hands extended as electricity crackles between them. **(Elemental Hero Voltic: Level 4, LIGHT, Warrior-type; 1000 ATK/1500 DEF)**

"Whoooaaa…" Rally says, looking between the two heroes.

"Voltic, Woodsman! Take out two of his Support Platforms!" the command bursts from my throat with such practiced ease that it feels almost natural to me.

With similar ease, my monsters spring into action. Elemental Hero Woodsman leaps into the air and thrusts his fist forward, a vortex of vines lashing out from his wrists and wrapping around one of the machines, tightening until it shatters, and he lands proudly on his feet. Voltic's attack is a bit less theatrical, merely pushing his hands closer to one another and forming the electrical current into a convulsing orb of energy. Half a moment later, several bolts of lightning shoot out of the ball and enclose around the floating ship, electrocuting it and causing it to explode.

Yet another blizzard of pixels erupts in the place of the destroyed monsters, flying in every direction as Rally crosses his arms over his face to protect himself. He drops them as the pixels disperse, and he grins at me. "I've never seen those monsters in action before! They're incredible!"

I have the decency to blush. "Thanks…" I say, rubbing the back of my head awkwardly. Woodsman seems to strike a pose, putting his hands on his hips and puffing out his broad half-green half-brown chest. Voltic, on the other hand, seems as if he'd be rolling his eyes if they were visible beneath his helmet. "I'll end my turn there."

"This is getting fun! I draw!" Rally says, drawing a card with a flourish and adding it to his hand. "Here we go! I'll summon Card Trooper, in attack mode!"

Rising out of the portal is a mid-sized robot on tank treads, with a red barrel-shaped body and a blue underside, with two extensions for arms with a red cannon barrel at the end of each and a glass bubble for a head. It rolls back and forth, giving off a few odd whirring and chirping noises. Just listening to it gives me a throbbing headache. **(Card Trooper: Level 3, EARTH, Machine-type; 400 ATK/400 DEF)**

"Next, I'll activate my Card Trooper's effect—I can send up to three cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard, and he gains 500 ATK for each card sent! Of course, I choose three cards!" Rally explains. Three cards eject from the top of his deck, and he removes them and places them into his Graveyard slot. The red robot then grows several sizes, to the point where it stands about the height of Woodsman. **(Card Trooper: 400 ATK **** \- 1900 ATK)**

A pair of bright white lights popped on inside the robot's head as the whirring grew even louder. "Since next turn you could just send Woodsman to defense mode and keep me from getting rid of him, that's exactly who Card Trooper is going to attack!"

Card Trooper wheels forward until it seems to loom over Woodsman, leveling its cannons at him and launching twin blasts of fire at him. Woodsman is caught aflame, and the pixels come flying back at me, along with the flames. I can practically feel the heat as it consumes me and sends my Life Points reeling, yet I emerge relatively unscathed, minus the lack of my monster.

_**Stranger: 2600 LP / Rally: 4400 LP**_

"I'll call it a turn there," Rally says, grinning widely at the newfound lead.

"My turn then—I draw!" I call out, a sudden rush of excitement running through me. My stomach is a pit of butterflies as I pull the card from my deck. The card I've drawn is a magic card, depicting a swirling vortex of blues in various colors—Polymerization. There's something _veeery_ familiar about this card; I study it for several moments before I realize that Voltic seems to be staring at me.

The words flow naturally from my lips as I play the card I have just drawn—"I play the Magic Card, Polymerization! By fusing one Elemental Hero monster on my field or in my hand with another monster, I can summon a whole new Hero!" As if guided, my hand moves to the two other monsters in my hand: Elemental Hero Ice Edge, and Wroughtweiler. I raise them aloft, and above my head appears the swirling vortex from my magic card; the silhouettes of my two monsters appear, twisting away into the center.

"I fuse together Elemental Hero Ice Edge and Wroughtweiler in order to bring forth the Power of Earth!" I call out. "The hero that has been hand-carved by Mother Nature herself bursts onto the scene to bring justice to a justiceless world! Come on out—Elemental Hero Gaia!"

Two legs first appear out of the vortex, massive and thick, followed by an equally massive body as the hero appears on the scene, smashing into the ground with heavy fists. He raises to his full height, looming over all of us, at least ten feet tall or more. His skin seemed to be made out of a composite of clay and stone and other hard natural materials; red orbs lined the sides of his legs and up his chest and onto his shoulders, often traced with gold; massive silver gauntlets hung around his wrists, and a normal-sized head sat between two raised shoulders. **(Elemental Hero Gaia: Level 6, EARTH, Warrior-type; 2200 ATK/2600 DEF)**

Rally's smile begins to melt away as the shadow of Gaia falls upon him, and soon he just stands there slack-jawed and staring up at the hero. Gaia stares back down at him, then turns his massive upper body to look at me.

"Gaia's effect activates now—when he is Fusion Summoned, I can target one monster on your side of the field and halve its ATK, and then Gaia gains that much ATK! Since your Card Trooper went back to its normal ATK, the best option would be Heavy Mech Support Platform!" I declare, pointing at the floating spaceship. "Go on, Gaia! Stone Splitter!"

Gaia punches the ground, causing a bunch of slivers of rock to fly through the air and impact the ship. They impale it, and a dark red aura surrounds it as it appears to shrink slightly. **(Heavy Mech Support Platform: 500 ATK - **** 250 ATK / Elemental Hero Gaia: 2200 ATK - **** 2450 ATK)**

"Now, Elemental Hero Gaia, smash his Card Trooper with your Fossilized Fist!"

The ground begins to tremble as Gaia takes several heavy steps toward the much smaller robot. Card Trooper tilts its glass head upward, looking up just in time for Elemental Hero Gaia to smash it to bits with a massive fist. The pixels fly back and hit Rally, causing him to cry out as his Life Points drop suddenly.

_**Stranger: 2600 LP / Rally: 2350 LP**_

Rally holds up his hand to pause me, a bright light starting to emanate from his deck slot. "You've triggered Card Trooper's effect—when he's destroyed by battle, I can draw one card!" he explains, drawing a card from his deck.

"No matter! Voltic, take care of Heavy Mech Support Platform!" Yet another burst of electricity from Voltic's hands arcs forward to destroy the floating spaceship, just as he had destroyed one of its brothers last turn. "And with these two holding down the field, I'll end my turn here! Of course, Gaia's attack goes back to 2200, but that's not that big of a deal."

It takes a moment before Rally seems to understand that it's his turn. "I-I draw," he says shakily, drawing another card from the top of his deck. The confidence he initially approached the duel with is gone; he chews on his lip nervously, as he utters, "I'll set a monster face-down, and end my turn there."

I must admit, I feel a little bad at seeing how I drained his bravado so quickly, but at the same time there's a rush of adrenaline that accompanies it, coursing through my veins like blood. "Draw!" I call, once more pulling a card from my deck—and immediately playing it. "I activate my equip card, Voltic Spear! By equipping it to my man Voltic, he gains 1000 ATK!"

The moment I place the Magic Card into the slot, a bolt of lightning slashes down from the sky and strikes Elemental Hero Voltic. After a blinding flash, it dissipates, revealing a brand new weapon in the hands of the armored electrician—a long spear, jagged and white, with sparks leaping off it as if it were lightning incarnate. **(Elemental Hero Voltic: 1000 ATK - **** 2000 ATK)**

"Here we go, time for the final battle! Voltic, attack his face-down monster!"

With all the force of a thunder clap, Voltic cocks his arm back and hurls the spear through the air, piercing into the image of the face-down card. The card flips over, revealing a rather disgruntled-looking boxcar with its eyes squeezed shut as it accepts the inevitable, shattering into bits and pieces of scrap metal and remains of freight that fly backwards in a blizzard of pain, absorbing Rally before disappearing.

_**Stranger: 2600 LP / Rally: 850 LP**_

"H-hey! How come I took damage right there?!" Rally asks in surprise, uncovering his face from the storm of debris that flew from his train. "My Bokoichi was in defense mode!"

As he asks that, another crack of lightning heralds the return of Voltic's spear to his hands. "A secondary effect of Voltic Spear—when he attacks a monster with lower damage than his attack, you take the difference in damage," I explain. "Now, with that out of the way, Gaia, it's time to send him to the Stone Age! Tectonic Takedown!"

The ground rumbles beneath Elemental Hero Gaia's massive earthen feet lift from their rooted positions and charge the orange-haired boy across from me. Dust kicks up, fissures open up in the cement, and Rally does his best to brace himself for the impact as a huge stone fist slams into his stomach.

_**Stranger: 2600 LP / Rally: 0 LP**_

He cries out before dropping to one knee, staring down at the ground as my monsters disappear, and the light in the blue orb of my duel disk fades.

For what feels like minutes, Rally says nothing. He kneels and stares, and stares and kneels, but he doesn't speak.

I bite my lip nervously, taking a hesitant step over. "Hey, are you okay…?" I ask quietly, beginning a slow walk toward him. "I… I probably shouldn't have gone so hard, I'm sorry. Something just took over…"

But my fears are assuaged when Rally lifts his head up, beaming at me like I'd just given him a puppy. "Hey, that was an amazing duel! I've never seen Elemental Heroes in person before, those cards were SO cool! You handled them like a pro!" he says, leaping to his feet. "It's been way too long since I've had a duel that fun!"

_You looked like you were about to cry when Gaia first hit you,_ I decide not to say.

"Oh! Did you remember anything?" he asks excitedly. Beneath his long, patched jacket, I can see his feet shifting up and down in anticipation.

I pause for a moment, and begin to shake my head when I'm struck by a sudden jolt of electricity, the likes of which Rally's boxcar had probably been hit with when Voltic attacked. I squeeze my eyes shut and instinctively raise my hands to my temples to try and ease the pain, but the world is consumed by white, and Rally's voice fades away, as I hear…

"Ben…" "Ben!" "Big Ben!" and other various variations on the name Ben in a chorus of different voices. They all sound familiar to me, but the first two hold more significance than the rest; the first was a female, the second a male, and something in my heart begins to ache when I realize I'm unable to place the voice to a face or even a name.

I open my eyes again, looking down at the boy in the yellow cap, and reply, "Yeah… I've remembered my name. First name, at least," I reply, my voice calm and somewhat confused. "I'm Ben… it's nice to meet you, Rally."

"It's nice to meet you too, Ben!" Rally said, his face lighting up with a grin that is somehow even brighter than before. "Say, if dueling me helped you remember your name, maybe dueling other people will help you remember other things?"

"It can't hurt to try," I agree. "If I don't remember anything… well… we'll just have to try until I do." Something about seeing him grin like that makes me feel a bit more optimistic about my current situation, though I deflate slightly when I remember the rough-looking characters who had chased him earlier. "But who should I duel? Those creeps in the leather jackets?"

He grits his teeth, looking back over his shoulder before quickly shaking his head. "Uh, let's not go see them any time soon. Bad idea, very bad," he replies, but soon is smiling again. "No—my friends and I have this place not too far from here that we hang out in. If you go just south from here… not that you have any other way to go," he adds, pointing at the only visible exit from this area, "you'll find an old subway entrance. I wish I could show you myself, but I've got something I need to go do. Just tell them you're friends with me, they'll let you in! I'll be back soon, so I'll do the introductions then!"

And with that, before I can even respond he hurries off, looking over his shoulder at me and giving me another grin that makes me want to challenge those guys in the leather jackets, leaving me all alone in the dingy tangle of the decrepit urban jungle.

I look down at the Duel Disk on my arm, the metal gleaming from the sun which now sits directly overhead. Something about the deck slot seems to be calling my name, but I pass it off as my imagination—who knows how long I was out before I woke up here?

_You handled them like a pro! _Rally had said, regarding my Elemental Heroes.

How had I known all that? Polymerization, Fusion summoning, Gaia and his effect… it was all so quick, once I got moving I didn't stop. It was like a trained reaction, every move practiced and precise to the point where I probably could have done it with a blindfold—or not, because then I couldn't know what cards were in my hand, unless I perfumed them or something.

I have no idea how I wound up in this place, which Rally referred to as Satellite. I have no idea why I was able to do what I did with those monsters. I have no idea who I am, aside from just, "Ben," and I have no idea why I keep repeating the fact that I have no idea.

Yet, a voice in the back of my mind urges me onwards, telling me that I must keep moving forward to find out the answers to all these questions. I place a hand on my deck as it rests in the Duel Disk, taking a slow, steady breath to calm myself, almost in instinct, then turn myself in the direction where Rally had just disappeared.

"Looks like Ben's back," I say finally, beginning a steady walk down the wide, trash-strewn lane.

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**AND THAT IS A WRAP! Welcome everyone to the first chapter of Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time, starring my boy Ben! What does Ben stand for, you might ask? Well, it's not Benjamin, and it's not Benmajin, but that's all I'll say on the matter.**

**Anyways, you may find yourself wondering, 'who is this mysterious, handsome stranger who has awoken without a memory in the ruins of Domino City, and why is he using Elemental Heroes?' To which I shall reply with the age-old answer that has been infuriating people for eons, 'All things shall be revealed in time.' **

**There's not really much else I'm going to say here, other than I don't have a definite update schedule for this, but I've got a bit more free time now than I have in a long time so I'm hoping I can update fairly regularly. Also, in case anyone's wondering about pairings, it's Ben x Akiza all the way, but it'll probably be a fair amount of time until their relationship gets anywhere. Ben's got some baggage of his own to deal with, and we all know how Akiza is.**

**So, I'll just leave it there for the time being.**

**Take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~!**


	2. Chapter 2: Card Games On Motorcycles?

**Chapter 2: Card Games. On… Motorcycles…?**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, not counting various copies of handheld games, DVDs and old VHS tapes, as well as several copies of various Salamangreat cards which I hope to use some day.**

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Somehow, the plaza area that the alley leads into is even more claustrophobic than the place where I had dueled Rally.

Where the trash that swarms the streets like pestilence incarnate is pushed to the sides in that area, the moment I step from the alley it is as if I were playing a game of hopscotch where if I misstep, my foot will become covered in something foul-smelling or bug-infested. The tall, crumbling buildings that formed a barrier blocking out the horizon now press close together in a disorganized army of decrepit skyscrapers and squat hovels that seem to have been practically blown apart by some grand explosion. The skeletons of long-rotted wood crates lay splintered and plundered while their sturdier cousins made of plastic and metal rest in the shade of the buildings, years of neglect rendering them blackened and smelly, forcing me to wonder what sorts of objects could be hidden inside—though another part of me advises me to not inquire further.

There's something in me that makes my heart ache from the idea that this jungle of garbage had once been a city known as Domino. Something about that name resonates with me, but… I can't place it.

_It looks like Ben's back,_ I think to myself, glancing around at shattered windows, smashed doors and exposed sections of walls that electrical wiring must have once run through. _But who exactly is Ben? All I have is a name, and only the first name at that…_

It might be that dueling could help me regain my memories, even if it's only small bits and pieces. The duel with Rally reminded me of my name, maybe dueling his friends could give me something to go off of, at least.

Taking steady, calculated steps, I make my way through the labyrinth of the long-discarded and long-picked-over. I look around, my eyes taking in this ruin as I suddenly realize how empty it is; nobody peeks out from broken windows, or watches through the long-removed peepholes in what remains of doors, or stares cautiously from beneath a slightly tilted manhole cover.

I am alone.

Or, I was—until I spot him.

Easily six feet tall or more, this rather rough-looking fellow stands cross-armed in front of what can only be the entrance to the old subway Rally told me about. He wears a white shirt with a high collar over a green shirt with a somewhat smaller collar, and a blue bandana is tied around his head, revealing only little triangles of brownish hair that jut down to his ears.

A pair of cautious brown eyes fall upon me as I approach, pushing aside a can whose label was destroyed years ago. "What do you want?" he asks in a cold voice, uncrossing his arms and letting them fall to his sides—allowing me to see the Duel Disk glinting with sunlight on his arm.

"Uh, hi," I say at first, a bit put-off by the cold reception. "My name's Ben. I'm a friend of Rally's."

"Oh yeah?" he asks, turning his full body towards me as I halt my approach. He takes his eyes off me for a moment, just long enough to glimpse my own Duel Disk. "Well, Rally's not here right now. How about you come back later and we'll see if you're telling the truth."

I bite my lip; Rally had said that if I just mentioned his name, they'd let me in, but… I suppose in a landscape like this, you had to be protective of your friends and property. I should have known it wasn't going to be so easy.

After a moment's pause, I counter with, "How about a duel, then?" He raises an eyebrow, as if saying, 'Go on.' "I win, you let me in. I lose, we wait for Rally to get here. Deal?"

For a moment, it doesn't seem like he's going to go for it. He looks me up and down, crosses his arms over his chest once more, and finally says, "Deal. But when I pound you into the pavement, I don't want to see you hanging around here until Rally gets back, got it?"

"Got it," I reply, feeling the anticipation bubbling up inside me again as I step back a few paces, each of us raising our Duel Disks.

_Let's see who gets pounded into the pavement, huh? Gaia seemed to do the trick against Rally…_ I think to myself.

"By the way, name's Nervin," he calls out to me.

"Well Nervin, let's get this started!" I reply.

"**DUEL!"**

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

After spending a second to find the activation button, the life point counters on my Duel Disk climbs up to 4000, the tarnished blue dome flares up vibrantly once more, and yet again the cards shuffle themselves and provide me with my Hand.

"I'll take the first move!" declares Nervin, drawing a card from his deck and adding it to his hand, mulling over his selection.

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Nervin: 4000 LP**_

As he stands there brooding over his choices, I take a moment to examine my own hand. Four of the orange monster cards flank a single green one, two on either side: Phantom Magician, Elemental Hero Heat; then the magic card called Rose Bud, which depicts a blue flower crowned with a greenish-gold bud, from which some sort of white energy flows from; and the other two monsters, a returning favorite in Elemental Hero Woodsman, and lastly Elemental Hero Bubbleman.

"To kick things off, I'll summon Tiger Axe in attack mode!" he declares proudly, practically slapping the card down onto his Duel Disk. At once, a green portal opens in the ground in front of him and a massive orange tiger appears, armored in heavy steel and carrying a huge battle axe with a wickedly curved blade. It stands on its two hind legs, heavy muscle pulsing beneath its fur, two large black steel pauldrons resting on its shoulders with a bit of extra steel extending down to its midsection; it glares at me with predatory eyes, and roars angrily. **(Tiger Axe: Level 4, EARTH, Beast-Warrior-type; 1300 ATK/1100 DEF)**

"Hi there, kitty," I say, feeling a bit unnerved by the way the monster stares at me. I know I shouldn't feel so afraid—not only is it a hologram, but Elemental Hero Heat can dispatch it easily—yet I can't help it. I imagine that anyone would be considering soiling themselves if they were face to face with a muscular tiger man with an axe.

"This kitty's getting a weapon upgrade!" Nervin announces, holding up two magic cards for me to see. "Two, to be exact! An axe upgrade, in the form of Lucky Iron Axe"—the double-edged axe disappears in a flurry of pixels, replaced by a single-bladed axe with a length of cloth tied around its shaft and gold etchings on the head—"and Fairy Meteor Crush! Now, my Tiger Axe gains 500 ATK, and whenever he battles one of your defense position monsters, you'll take damage equal to the difference!" **(Tiger Axe: 1300 ATK **** 1800 ATK)**

Well, that more or less decided my move for me. There's only one monster in my hand that can hold up against his Tiger Axe now, and that's Woodsman. Nothing else has enough ATK or DEF to stand defiant against this ferocious feline and his shiny new axe. If I had that one magic card though, Polymerization…

"I'm going to end my turn there! I can't wait to show off his new axe!" Nervin comments, smirking at me.

"I draw!" is my only reply as I take the top card of my deck. It's not Polymerization, but it is a magic card—Skyscraper, a field card. "I'll start out by activating the card I just drew, Skyscraper!" A small slot pops out of the blade of my Duel Disk closest to the deck slot and I slide the card into it.

At once, the garbage-strewn streets of Satellite are replaced by tall skyscrapers. The sky turns dark, almost completely black but for one singular star gleaming bright white. Yellow light blooms forward from windows on the buildings, and two streetlights fall on myself and Nervin, but other than that, the city is dark.

Nervin looks around at the cityscape that blossomed forth around us, no doubt feeling displaced by the sudden change of scenery. Something about this field makes me feel at home, however, almost as if I belong here. Part of me wonders if this is what the Satellite looked like before… whatever happened to it happened.

"Next, I'll summon Elemental Hero Heat in attack mode!" I decide, changing my mind from the course I had previously set. The moment the card is placed into the slot, he appears on the field through a similar green portal—a tall man wreathed in tongues of flame, his red and orange suit seeming to be made of fire itself. His skin is yellow, and he wears a set of white armor over his chest painted with fire. "But there's more—Heat gains 200 ATK for each Elemental Hero monster on my field, including himself!" **(Elemental Hero Heat: Level 4, FIRE, Pyro-type; 1600 ATK **** 1800 ATK/1200 DEF)**

"So what? You still can't beat over my Tiger Axe without losing your monster too!" Nervin snarks, smirking at me.

"Maybe not. But neither can you," I point out, hoping desperately that I was right and he did not have an out to the most powerful monster in my hand. A risky bluff, but the alternative is to destroy his monster, deal a bit of damage and hope he doesn't have another monster and more equips.

Granted, neither of the options are particularly good, but I had to choose one, and so, "I end my turn there."

"Is that all you've got? Now I know you're lying about Rally's friend!" he says, drawing another card. "I play my Spell Card, Hidden Armory! By sending the top card of my deck to the Graveyard, I can add an Equip Spell to my hand—and I'm choosing Mage Power, which I'll equip to Tiger Axe right away, giving it 500 ATK for each Spell or Trap on my field!"

An eerie black aura surrounds Tiger Axe, the Lucky Iron Axe in its hand and the Fairy Meteor Crush in its other hand begin to glow brightly as the monster seems to grow a bit in size. It roars loudly with pride. **(Tiger Axe: 1800 ATK **** 3300 ATK)**

_Not good._ I knew that I wasn't in a good position to begin with, but this is an unexpected issue. Equip cards can be powerful tools, especially when stacked up like this. Even with the effect of Skyscraper, I can't stop his Tiger Axe now.

"Lucky for you, by the effect of Hidden Armory I can't Summon this turn, so I'll just go straight to the attack! Go, Tiger Axe, chop him up with your Lucky Cut!"

At his master's command, the massive tiger springs forward with all the ferocity that an apex predator like him should possess—perhaps a bit more from the magical enhancements. Heat tries to mount a defense, crossing his arms over his chest and forming a wall of fire, but Tiger Axe's axe begins to glow brighter as it slices through the flames. Heat stumbles back, but the Beast-Warrior follows through and cuts down my hero and scatters him toward me in a storm of pixels.

"Gah!" I grimace as the remains fly toward me; they sting as they fly past me, and I can practically feel my Life Points reducing as Heat is dispersed.

_**Ben: 2500 LP / Nervin: 4000 LP**_

The grin that Nervin gives me is enough to make me utter a few choice words under my breath as I try and figure out what I'm supposed to do next.

"Alright, I'll let you go this turn. Enjoy it, because next turn I'm finishing you!" Nervin taunts.

I bite my lip, drawing a card. Is this how Rally felt when I was about to crush him with Gaia? Is this… despair?

No, not despair. Never despair. There's something deep in my gut that's telling me that I've been in worse positions than this, all I have to do is power through it.

As I look at the card I drew, I realize that _I'm just getting started_. Traps are always welcome sights in situations such as this, and this one seems like I was meant to draw it.

"I'll place a monster face-down, then I'll set another face-down!" I say, setting the cards as explained. The image of the monster card materializes before me in defense mode, and as it does Tiger Axe seems to look at me mockingly. "I've got nothing else, so I'll end it there."

"Don't feel like delaying the inevitable, I see! Alright, I'll draw!" Nervin calls out, then immediately slaps the card he drew down onto his Duel Disk. "I summon Armored Lizard in attack mode!"

Once more, a green portal opens up and gives way to a new monster: a massive lizard, seven feet tall or more. Though slender as a young tree, the blue reptile is covered in thick blue plating that protects its soft yellow skin. Its eyes glare red at me as it gnashes sharp fangs angrily, flexing long knife-like claws and hissing like a snake. **(Armored Lizard: Level 4, EARTH, Reptile-type; 1500 ATK/1200 DEF)**

"Go on, Armored Lizard! Take out his face-down monster!" Nervin orders, and dropping onto its forelegs, the lizard dashes across the field towards my monster and I, its claws making sharp tapping noises as it scampers forward. Once it reaches my face-down card, it slashes its gleaming claws toward it… only to be thrown back as Elemental Hero Woodsman bursts onto the scene, Armored Lizard flying back and crashing into Nervin.

_**Ben: 2500 LP / Nervin: 3500 LP**_

Flexing his muscles, my half-green, half-wood hero drops to one knee, crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive manner. **(Elemental Hero Woodsman: Level 4, EARTH, Warrior-type; 1000 ATK/2000 DEF)**

"Hmph, you've managed to save yourself one turn, but don't get too ahead of yourself! Tiger Axe, give that Woodsman a taste of your axe!" And with a roar of assent, the tiger surges forward with a furious stomping, swinging its axe with ferocious strength.

"Not quite!" I interrupt, my trap card flipping face-up, revealing a swirling blue circle with yellow bolts of electricity leaping from it. "I activate my Trap Card, Hero Barrier! While I have a face-up Elemental Hero on my field, I can negate one of your attacks!"

The tiger charges into the barrier, taking several swings at it before it realizes it cannot break through, even with its lucky axe. Slumping its heavy shoulders, it walks back over to Nervin's side of the field.

"Fine, but next turn your Woodsman will go down!" the man in the bandana growls out. "And with him, your Life Points!"

"We'll see about that, I draw!" I declare proudly, feeling the adrenaline rising in my stomach like a bird taking flight. Now I know things are looking up for me as I see what I've drawn: Elemental Hero Stratos. "In addition, thanks to Woodsman's effect, I can add a Polymerization to my Hand!"

Nervin raises an eyebrow, looking at my hero. "You'd better hope whatever you can fuse comes out to over 3300," he says, smirking at me. "Otherwise…"

"I'm not out of this yet," I interrupt, revealing Stratos. "I summon Elemental Hero Stratos in attack mode! When he's summoned, I can add a Hero to my Hand, or I can destroy Magic or Trap Cards up to the number of Elemental Heroes I control besides him!"

Beside Woodsman, yet another green portal opens up, this one no less green than the rest, and from its center my hero bursts forward. Clad in a blue top and white pants, his face covered by a steel visor, he stretches out his arms to give a full view of the contraption that enables him to fly: metal wings stretch out from his back, with a fast-moving turbine on each wing keeping him aloft. He hovers in midair, the wings now parallel to the ground as he waits for orders. **(Elemental Hero Stratos: Level 4, WIND, Warrior-type; 1800 ATK/300 DEF) **

"Through his effect, I'm going to destroy your Iron Axe!" I say, pointing at the aforementioned equip card. Stratos raises extends an arm and reveals a gauntlet with several buttons and begins pressing a few of them; in response, his wings now turn so that the turbines face Nervin, and the turbines begin to swirl even faster, and faster, and faster still, until twin whirlwinds burst forth from them, spinning outward and sucking up the axe, tossing it high into the sky. After that, the black aura of Mage Power lessens slightly, and Tiger Axe seems to shrink. **(Tiger Axe: 3300 ATK **** 2800 ATK **** 2300 ATK)**

"You may have destroyed my axe, but you've given me an extra card through his effect!" Nervin replies, drawing a new card from the top of his deck. He doesn't make any sort of face, but the look in his eyes tells me it wasn't what he hoped for.

"Now, I'll play my Polymerization! By fusing Elemental Hero Woodsman on my field and Elemental Hero Bubbleman in my Hand, I can bring forth a new hero with the power of…" I'm about to say Earth, referring to Gaia, but instead something causes me to say, "Water!"

I continue on with, "The hero wielding the life-giving element itself! Rising from beneath the ice to bring justice to a cold world! Appear, Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!"

His whole body seems to be made of permafrost, cold and unbreaking, unafraid of even the sun itself. Pure white armor covers his body, sharp and angular, inlaid with patterns of snowflakes and resting atop a long black full-bodysuit. Sharp spikes of white jut out from his shoulders, and the head resting between them is covered in a helmet from which his burning blue eyes are visible; and from his shoulders hangs a long white cloak that seems to be woven from snowflakes. He turns his head to look at me, and our eyes lock, stormy gray on ice blue. **(Elemental Hero Absolute Zero: Level 8, WATER, Warrior-type; 2500 ATK/2000 DEF)**

"Here we go! Stratos, take out Tiger Axe with your Turbine Twister!" I say, throwing out my hand and pointing at the big orange beast.

Nervin laughs bitterly. "Can't you do math? Stratos only has 1800 ATK, while my Tiger Axe has 2300!"

Again, Stratos's turbines begin to spin rapidly, quickly returning to the speed which produced the whirlwinds that first destroyed the axe. "You don't know much about Skyscraper, do you? When one of my Heroes attacks a monster stronger than it, it gains 1000 ATK!" **(Elemental Hero Stratos: 1800 ATK **** 2800 ATK)**

The same twisters leap forward from Stratos's twin fans, tossing the Tiger Axe high into the air. It shatters, the pixels falling heavily on Nervin, causing him to wince in pain.

_**Ben: 2500 LP / Nervin: 3000 LP**_

"Absolute Zero, make that Lizard's blood run cold! Icicle Spear Strike!"

Conjuring a slender shaft of ice with a tip so sharp that I can almost feel it piercing me by just looking at it, Absolute Zero hurls it at the blue lizard. It flies through the air, the ice sparkling in the sunlight as a trail of snowflakes fall behind it. It catches his monster square in the chest, piercing through the thick blue armor and striking out its back as it stumbles into its master and collapses into pixels.

_**Ben: 2500 LP / Nervin: 2000 LP**_

Nervin's eyes widen as he sees that his monsters have been destroyed, his equips broken. Three cards remain in his hand, and he'd need something awful strong to wipe out Absolute Zero… of course, that would also come at quite a heavy price for him.

"I end it there. Still think you're coming out of this one?" I ask, giving him a smirk of my own as I stand between Absolute Zero and Stratos. "My best guess, next turn you're finished. I guess that's what you get for giving me the… cold shoulder."

And before you ask, yes, I am incredibly ashamed for that pun—and from the looks they give me, so are Stratos and Zero.

"I… draw!" Nervin says, closing his eyes as he takes the card, as if beseeching some deity that oversees the affairs of card game players for a good draw. He opens them again, and frowns. In that instant, his hand steadily starts moving toward his deck again, until…

"Hey, Nervin! Ben!" Rally's voice cuts through the haze of the duel.

We both turn our heads to see the bushy-haired kid running over toward us, waving giddily as he comes. He grins as he rushes into the field between us, looking up at Stratos and Airman in awe.

"Whoa, how come you didn't use these guys against me?! They're wicked!" he exclaims, before looking back to both of us. "Couldn't wait for me to show up, huh? How badly is Ben kicking your butt, Nervin?"

Nervin drops his hand from his deck, looking back to me. "I had him on the ropes for a while," he replies. "In fact, as it is, I think the duel is over."

"I agree," I say, and with that we both power down our Duel Disks. Our monsters fade away, and again the blue light goes dark again. "So, do you believe me now, big guy? About being Rally's friend?"

"Yeah, I believe ya," Nervin replies.

"Enough standing around here then! Let's get inside!" Rally says, not bothering to wait for us to follow, dashing down into the darkness of the abandoned subway.

The moment the younger boy is gone, Nervin strides over to me and sticks out his hand. "Hey, that was a good duel man. I thought I had you there," he says.

I extend my hand to shake his. "Good game," I agree. "And you would have too, if I hadn't drawn Hero Barrier. I couldn't have gotten my Polymerization if your attack went through… so, what was that card you drew?"

"Nothing that could have helped," Nervin replies, a bit glumly. "Maybe I should have believed you were Rally's friend, then I wouldn't have had to lose like that."

With a small, wry smile, I stick up a finger and wag it at him. "I don't know what duel you just played, but that was a mutual draw. Might be we'll have a definite winner next time," I say, following Rally down into the tunnel entrance.

* * *

The first thing on my mind when I begin the steady descent into the yawning mouth of that subway tunnel is, 'Damn this place is dark.'

Once the sunlight from outside dies away and no longer reaches its grasping yellow fingers into the dark, the stairway becomes substantially dimmer. Here and there, lights hang from the ceiling, though their bulbs are either burnt out or shattered entirely, but once every twenty or more steps a soft buzzing accompanies a fluorescent light caked with dust, barely illuminating the cracked cement stairs. Due to the low visibility and the questionable stability of the staircase itself, I go at a steady pace, not hurrying to get down there—wherever _there_ is, because there is still no end in sight.

"Careful there, if you fall I can't guarantee you'll stop," Nervin teases, walking past me with ease.

"Ha ha," I reply sarcastically, grasping onto a rusty metal railing as I kick a chunk of cement and nearly trip. "How much further, exactly…" I begin to ask, before my foot steps on a long stretch of pavement.

"Oh, right about here," he remarks.

"Oh, thank you. I'm so glad."

As we step down onto the platform, my eyes have become a bit better adjusted to the darkness, yet I'm relieved to see the light filtering down through gaping holes in the ceiling. Exposed metal rods and crumbling bits of pavement hang down from the top, and here and there piles of rubble lay in mounds on the ground. Just off the platform, a long-unused train track sits all alone, the steel rails rusted and the timbers mostly rotted away.

And down at the far end of the platform, just before the rails rush off into a round tunnel entrance filled with darkness, a decently large green tent is set up, ripped and patched here and there, not unlike Rally's long coat. Standing in front of said tent is said boy in the long coat, alongside two larger men.

One is tall and thin like a young tree, the other is shorter and built like a tank.

The taller one wears an olive-green vest over a white button-up shirt, and his face holds a nervous expression as his eyes fall on Nervin and I. His purple hair is tied up in a ponytail of dreadlocks held back by a gray band, and a tiny pair of round glasses are pinched tightly to his nose. He has his hands in his pockets, no doubt fidgeting nervously.

The shorter one wears a sleeveless red shirt lined on the arms with fur, though it seems to be a bit small for him as the shirt is very much unbuttoned toward the bottom, revealing his beige undershirt. He has brownish-orange hair and a confident, yet friendly smile on his face. "Yo, Rally!" he calls out, raising his hand in greeting.

"Tank! Blitz!" Rally says excitedly, dashing forward to meet them.

Nervin hangs back a bit as I walk on after Rally. I step into a large circle of sunlight that filters down through a crevice above, and suddenly feel as if everyone's eyes are on me, as if I'm an actor on the stage illuminated by a spotlight.

And soon, I find out that their eyes are on me—at least, those of the two known as Blitz and Tank. The purple-haired one speaks up first, his voice nervous as he eyes me with wary brown eyes, "So, uh, who's this?"

"Huh? Oh! Ben, come on over here!" Rally hurries over to me, grabs my arm and drags me over to them. "Guys, this is Ben. I found him passed out in that little plaza north of here."

"You mean… you just found him passed out in the street and decided to bring him here?" Blitz sputters, anxiously fixing the glasses that pinch his nose. "A-are you sure that's a good idea…?"

"It's fine Blitz!" Rally replies. "He's a good guy, really! And he's an awesome duelist too!"

"A duelist, huh?" asks Tank, stepping forward with a grin. Though his name hasn't been introduced, I can only assume by his broad chest and heavy muscles that he has to be Tank—naming him anything else would be a crime. "Then how about we throw down then? Nervin let him in, so I'll trust him."

"H-hey! I was just about to challenge him!" Blitz interjects, his face taking a sudden bold expression as he narrows his eyes… though half a moment later, he relents, letting out a sigh. "Actually Tank, you can go ahead. I'll take him on next."

Tank's Duel Disk bursts to life with the sound of humming electricity as he holds it out in front of him. "Let's get to it then! Show me what you've got, Ben!"

Seeing as I have no choice, I activate my own Duel Disk, moving to stand across from him, the shaft of light serving as our playing field. Part of me wants to be exhausted of dueling, but there's another, much more powerful part that wants to do nothing but duel—and that part of me is unleashing trillions of butterflies in my stomach as I see the tarnished blue dome blooming into existence.

"**DUEL!"**

* * *

Neither Tank nor Blitz proved to be as much a challenge as Nervin had.

Tank, though confident, played a deck that heavily relied on stalling for time to build up his Muka Muka, a monster which powered up by 300 points for each card in his hand. Had he gotten it out early, it could have proven difficult to deal with, but by the time he summoned it I already had Absolute Zero on my field, ready to freeze it.

Blitz played a very defensive deck consisting of monsters with heavy DEF; though his Shield and Sword card proved annoying, even granting his Millennium Shield 3000 ATK, I was able to defeat him with repeated direct attacks through the effect of Elemental Hero Ice Edge due to his monsters having rather low ATK normally.

"Looks like it's 4-0, in favor of Ben!" Rally says excitedly as the monsters Blitz and I used fade away. "Me, Nervin, Tank and Blitz all fell to his heroes!"

"Hey, I didn't technically lose!" Nervin points out, though Rally either doesn't hear him, or doesn't particularly care.

"You were right about him, Rally," Tank comments, beaming at me. "He's great! We could use more guys like him hanging out with us."

I have the decency to blush. It feels embarrassing to receive such praise, almost as if it isn't deserved; I can't even tell if I'm making the decisions myself during the duels, or if it's just pure instinct. Something certainly feels right about the deck, and I feel as if I should know exactly what to do, but when I do it I can't explain _why_.

"It's nothing…" I say shyly, folding my arms behind the back of my head as I feel their eyes on me again. I don't know for sure if these duels helped me remember anything… other than I'm not overly fond of being watched like this.

"It's not nothing! You've got some serious skill, man," Nervin insists, patting me on the shoulder.

"Yeah! After all, you beat me!" Blitz exclaims, trying to do his best to look intimidating again. He narrows his eyes so that he's staring directly through the tiny round glasses, but instead of intimidating it looks more like he's trying to cross his eyes.

Rally scoffs, then grabs the crook of my arm. "Come on Ben, I wanna show you something," he says, pulling me out of the natural spotlight and toward the patched tent. I kick dozens of pebbles and other small remnants of long-laid concrete out of the way as I follow after the smaller boy, who seems to be gliding across the dirty ground.

We walk around the side until we come to an entrance, wide enough for perhaps two of Tank to fit through, and he pushes aside a heavy canvas curtain to reveal the messy inside of the tent.

Run-down furniture, namely two old chairs with lumpy cushions that have yellowed with age sit on either end of the shack, one resting directly beside a tall, cluttered shelf full of tools and materials and exactly seven forks in varying states of rust. Toward one dark corner, a bare gray mattress lays on the ground, with a tattered blanket balled up toward the foot of the bed. Boxes lay strewn across the floor alongside metal pipes and rubber hoses, sheet metal and splintered wood.

And lastly, the desk. It's old and made of rusted metal, half-warped from age, though it's surprisingly the most clean thing in the tent. A computer monitor sits on the table, its dark screen reflecting Rally and I. I stoop to look into the monitor, and can't help but notice how old it is.

"There's a lot of stuff laying everywhere, so be careful where you step," Rally says, looking through a bin on the tall shelf. "Oh, and don't mess with that computer, there's some pretty important stuff on there…"

I gently reach forward and place my hand on the computer mouse, giving it a slight push to wake the computer up. A dark blue screen flares into existence, with a white box inquiring after a password.

"HEY! Didn't I just say not to touch that?" Rally says loudly, hurrying over. "I'm serious—there's stuff on there that we can't really replace!"

Startled, I step back and hold my hands up apologetically. "Sorry. Just… got a little curious," I admit, standing in the middle of the tent a bit awkwardly.

Rally sighs. "No worries, doesn't look like you really did anything besides wake it up…" he says, though he stops before he can say anything else. A high-pitched whirring noise fills the subway tunnel, echoing off the cement walls and bouncing into the tent. Rally perks up. "He's back!"

"Who's back?" I ask, following after him as he bolts out of the tent.

He hurries over to the edge of the platform, practically jumping up and down as a small light appears in the inky darkness of the round tunnel, steadily growing brighter as the whirring noise gets louder.

Blitz, Tank and Nervin rush over to stand beside us too as the light bursts from the tunnel, manifesting as a red motorcycle-type vehicle. It's very angular, with white trimming the front of the vehicle, and a curved seat extends out of the back part, just above the rear wheel.

The vehicle comes to a stop, and the driver sits back in his seat and removes his helmet. Spiky black hair leaps out from beneath it, gold highlighting the spikes toward the back of his head; the upper layer juts upward, and shockingly the lower layer arches downward, as if he had decided not to take care of his morning bedhead.

"Welcome back, Yusei!" Rally exclaims, beaming brightly at the young man in the motorcycle.

"Hey," he greets back, focusing a pair of royal blue eyes on me. There's skepticism there, but it's not the hostile mistrust that Nervin affixed me with when we first met; it's more curiosity, as if he's trying to figure me out. "Who's this?"

Rally grabs my arm again and pulls me closer to the edge. "This is Ben! He's got amnesia. Doesn't remember anything but his name, but he's an incredible duelist!" Rally looks between him and I, then says excitedly, "Hey! Maybe you guys should duel some time!"

The rider now known as Yusei looks over me again, then puts his helmet back on. "I'm going for another ride," he says, taking hold of the handlebars and speeding off.

A moment after Yusei disappears into the tunnel on the opposite end, a sharp jolt runs through my head, not unlike the one that brought back the memory of my name—though this time, much stronger. I drop to my knees, clenching my teeth in pain as my hands slap down on the cold floor.

"Ben!" Rally says worriedly, but his voice fades off into the distance as the memory comes back.

An austere room, bare white walls and dull white floors, furnished with a fancy-looking bookshelf cluttered with magazines and tools. A long metal desk, shaped like an L, with a computer resting atop it. Long rows of wires running from the walls into a pale white motorcycle, similar to the one Yusei had just ridden off on, minus the curved seat.

"…Turbo duel…" a voice says in the back of my mind as I view the room.

"…Speed Spell…" that same voice continues. "…Activate! …Miracle Fusion!"

The vision disappears, and I'm left kneeling on the floor of the old subway tunnel, my hands clenched and covered in dust. Rally, Blitz, Nervin and Tank all gather round me, their eyes wide with worry.

"You okay, man?" Nervin asks.

"Everything alright Ben?" Blitz inquires.

"Are you alive still?" Tank probes.

I sit back on my knees, coughing slightly as I become aware of how dusty the air is. "Yeah, I'm good," I say. "Headache."

Rally perks up. "WAIT! When you remembered your name, you said you had a headache. Did you remember something just now?"

I nod, pushing myself to my feet. "Something about… Speed Spells, and a motorcycle…" I explain, extending my arm holding my Duel Disk, my opposite hand finding another compartment and drawing a card from it. The card is named Miracle Fusion, as my dream had mentioned, depicting a fusion scene like Polymerization; one hero dressed in blue and a hero dressed in red swirl around a large H, a bright white light between them.

"You've got a Speed Spell!" Rally exclaims, looking over my shoulder at it. "Maybe you're a Turbo Duelist then, Ben?"

"What's a… Turbo Duelist?" I ask with a frown.

"This is to be expected," Blitz says, straightening up. "Amnesia is a real pain."

Rally points to the card, pulling my hand down so he can look at it straight. "A Turbo Duelist is someone who plays in Turbo Duels! They get on a Duel Runner, like what Yusei has, and they duel using Speed Spells instead of regular Spells!" he explains.

"So they play a card game… on motorcycles?"

"Yes, that's the general idea," Blitz confirms.

"Next time Yusei comes around, you should talk to him about it," Tank comments.

Nervin pauses in thought for a moment, then says, "Aren't the only Turbo Duelists around here Yusei and Sector Security, though?" A murmur of assent goes through the other three, and he continues, "Then… maybe Ben came from the City?"

"It's certainly a possibility," Blitz agrees.

"Ben, maybe if you go to the City you can regain more of your memory?" Rally suggests.

"It's worth a try," I answer, staring hard at the Speed Spell card. There's something in my mind that is attached to it, but the memory is weaker than the others; I don't feel the same pull as I do with my regular cards. "But how am I supposed to get there?"

"You're going to need a Duel Runner," Nervin says, covering his chin with his hand in thought.

Rally claps his hands together and grins at us. "Then we'll just have to go find one, huh? If we all pitch in, we're sure to find one in no time!"

Tank raises an eyebrow. "You sure about that, Rally? We don't exactly have a huge amount of Duel Runners laying around here," he cautions, looking down the tunnel that Yusei had just disappeared into. "It took us forever to find all the parts for Yusei's Runner, I'm not sure how much luck we'll have here."

"Well, we've got to try, Tank!" Rally says, turning to face the heavier man. There's a fire burning in Rally's eyes; he's so dedicated on helping me, a stranger, get to the City, where I may or may not regain my memory. I can't say whether or not I'd be able to do the same in this situation.

I smile at Rally, patting him on the back. "Thanks, Rally," I say, raising my head to look at the others. "I'd be really grateful if you guys would help me. I'll do my part too, but I'll admit, I don't exactly know the first thing about Duel Runners…"

Rally grins back at me. "Don't worry about that, Ben, Yusei can teach you all about Duel Runners! He's the best!" he takes a few steps toward the entrance to the tunnel, turning back to look at us.

"Alright guys!" he exclaims. "Commencing Project Duel Runner in 3… 2… 1… GO!"

And on "GO!" he makes a mad dash for the stairway that leads back to the surface.

Tank, Nervin, Blitz and I are left in his dust—figuratively, and somewhat literally, because I'm not entirely sure who claims ownership over the dust here. The four of us share a look between one another, shrug, and then walk on after him, not in any particular hurry.

* * *

**AND THAT'S A WRAP! My apologies fellas, I had hoped to have this chapter out around Wednesday, but my grandpa passed away earlier in the week so my wife and I had to fly back to the States for the funeral. We're going back home Sunday evening, so the next chapter, depending on how much time I have now that the funeral's over, will probably be up sometime between Wednesday and Friday of next week. I'm hoping to update every week, though in some occasions it may be every other week.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this last chapter. I'm still a bit unsure of how long to make each chapter, because I certainly could have written out Tank and Blitz's duels, though it would have come out much longer, and probably a little boring since neither deck is as aggressive as Nervin's. If you want me to write out every single duel I certainly can, but if not I understand too. **

**A couple more things: first, I forgot to include that I actually edited the effect of Voltic Spear. In the manga, its only effect was the ATK boost, I tacked on the piercing damage effect. Also, I decided to include a theme song, in the style of Fenikkusumaru, whose original Stardust Accelerator story which sadly is no longer on the site actually inspired me to start writing YGO stories here in the first place. Be sure to let me know if you want me to include the opening every chapter, or if I should just include it when I change it every arc or so.**

**So! This chapter, we got to see our first appearance of Yusei, as well as revealing another memory, plus getting to see that Ben does indeed have Absolute Zero in his deck—which is my personal favorite of the Omni-Heroes, but definitely NOT his ace card! We're starting to pick up on the story for Stardust Accelerator, and in the next chapter we'll no doubt be witnessing the search for a Duel Runner! **

**But what will Ben find waiting for him in the City? What if he arrives, and… nothing? Why do I keep asking questions that I know the answer to, but you don't?**

**Lastly, I just want to thank you guys so much for the reviews, follows and favorites, it's awesome to know you guys are so interested in the story. I know there's a distinct lack of Y5Ds content coming out at the moment, so I hope I'm doing well in keeping you guys coming back for more. **

**I think I've rattled on long enough about this. So, as always,**

**Take care, brush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~!**

**P.S. If you guys have any ideas on Ben's backstory, I'd love to hear them! As in, theories, of course—I know who he is and all, but I'd love to see if you guys have any thoughts. **


	3. Chapter 3: Definitely Not a Scam

**Chapter 3: Definitely Not A Scam**

* * *

**Third and hopefully final disclaimer: I don't own anything substantial in regards to the franchise. All intellectual properties belong to their rightful owners.**

* * *

The search for Duel Runner parts had, as expected, been rather difficult. Three, maybe four days have passed since the four of us agreed to search for said parts—it's not easy to tell, as the days have all seemed to blur together—and very little headway has been made.

Blitz, Nervin and Tank all work in the massive recycling plant that most other residents are forced to work in. During their shifts, they scour the incoming trash for anything that even slightly resembles a Duel Runner part, but unfortunately not much machinery of any sort has passed down the conveyor belts as of late. As they work, Rally and I pick our way through every trash pile and cluttered box we can find, to similar results.

Yusei returns from his constant rides every so often, but he never sticks around long unless it's to sleep. Per Rally's request, he's allowed me to sleep in the large tent, giving me one of the lumpy yellowed chairs to use as a bed, while Yusei makes use of the other and Rally sleeps upon the mattress.

Every morning, my back wakes me up by screaming swear words at me, but the sleep has done me some good. I can't help but wonder when the last time I slept was; my mind is so much clearer now, and though the memories haven't returned, I can at least think.

Today is no different; early in the morning, the sound of Yusei's Duel Runner roaring to life awakens Rally and I as we hear him heading down the tunnel. Dim yellow light floods the tent from a small electric lamp that hangs from the ceiling, and as per usual my back shrieks at me using language that I do not care to repeat here.

"Morning Ben," Rally yawns, balling up the old blanket and tossing it at the foot of the mattress, just as it had been when I entered that first time.

"Morning Rally. Sleep well?" I ask, stretching my arms and arching my back, trying to relieve the tension and knots that the uncomfortable chair created.

He nods, wrapping his massive patchy coat around him as he rises to his feet. He raises a hand concealed by a fist and rubs his eyes, yawning and looking like a tired child who has just woken up from a nap.

"Time for another enjoyable day of hunting for scrap metal, yeah?" I say, yawning as well.

Truth be told, I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to be trying to find. Both Rally and Yusei, when he's been here, have described various parts that we'll be searching for—Yusei going into much better detail than Rally—but it all seems to be going over my head.

I have to wonder what sort of relevance the Duel Runner in my memory had to me; with how clueless I've been during this search, I can't see myself as a tech genius of any sort. Did I actually build it myself, or did someone else build it for me? And if someone did, who?

Or, for that matter, did that Duel Runner even belong to me? Perhaps it was owned by someone else, though this someone must have held some sort of important role in my life.

Whatever the case, the truth has to lie in this place they call the City.

I've asked them about it, but none of them have ever been there; apparently no residents of Satellite are permitted into the City, which is a bit of an issue towards unlocking my memories. Yusei tells me there's a way, but just as the others have said I'll need a Duel Runner to access it.

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

Rally and I have a quick breakfast of a lumpy gray oatmeal—it seems that everything here is lumpy, from the furniture to the food—and burnt black bacon. The City sends over rations for every citizen of the Satellite every week or so, but they certainly aren't handing out gourmet food. Since I am technically not a resident, I don't have my own rations, which means that I've been sharing with the others over the past few days and I can't say I've been looking forward to my next meals.

Breakfast is almost always lumpy gray oatmeal; Rally was excited to find that today's rations also included the bacon, so I can only assume it is a rarity despite it being burnt nearly to a crisp. Lunch is usually some sort of sandwich made with turkey or ham, though with the added stipulation that it smells weird and tastes slightly off, but only in such a way that it just mildly annoys you until you bite into it again. Dinner is a can of meat and a can of vegetables, though they do not give us can openers, instead forcing us to bash open the lid with rocks.

All around, a very appetizing menu.

The bacon left a bad taste in my mouth to be sure, but Rally munched it down happily, and after that was done, we left the subway tunnel, ready to begin our search once again.

Bright light bloomed out before us, bathing the trash-strewn streets in a golden glow, bouncing off scrap metal in blinding reflective bursts. The sky above was blue as can be, without even the slightest glimpse of a cloud drifting along. A steady breeze whistled through the maze of broken buildings, keeping Rally and I cool as we scour the streets on our search for scrap metal.

Hours fly by as we sift through piles of long-abandoned items and hunt through empty buildings for anything that might even bear a semblance of a motorcycle.

However, a problem still remains that, despite the days of searching, I still have very little idea what I'm actually trying to find. If I see anything that seems promising, I call out for Rally, and he almost immediately shoots it down. The objects he describes are things that I can't even begin to fathom, seeming about as out of place to me as components that cause a spaceship to function.

And again, as we have the past several days, Rally and I turn up empty-handed.

For a moment he thought that he may have stumbled across something, a CPU of some sort I believe, though it turned out to be little more than a small square mass of old gray gum wrappers. For what it's worth, it was a very shiny mass of old gray gum wrappers, and I wouldn't have known the difference anyway.

Dirtied hands and scraped knees is our reward for today's work, and as the sun sinks low behind the buildings and covers the ruined city in a deep orange glow Rally excuses himself on ahead.

"This is where we part ways today!" he says, grinning at me. "I've got something I need to do, but I'll be back a bit later. Do me a favor and tell the others for me, okay?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. Be careful dude," I say, patting Rally on the back as he takes a few steps forward.

He turns around to face me and beams even brighter, his eyes squeezed shut as the sun shines directly in his face. "Don't worry about me, Ben! Just make sure you get back to the subway safe!" he replies, before hurrying off down an alley that branches off the main path. I watch him for a little while, but soon he disappears around a building, and I keep walking.

I'm still very cautious about where I step, lacking the grace with which Rally and the others trek through the dirty streets, but I soon find my way back to the plaza area in which our little subway station rests. I begin walking toward the entrance, ready to sit down and bust open a can of meat with a rock, when I hear Blitz's voice calling out from behind me.

"Hey, Ben! Just the person I wanted to see!"

I turn to see the normally nervous man running toward me, a wide grin on his face. His purple dreadlocks bounce wildly as he runs, his eyes fixed on me through the tiny lenses of his glasses.

"Blitz, what's up?" I ask, folding my arms behind the back of my head.

"How's your searching been going?" he asks, mimicking my stance. I give him a grim look, and he grins triumphantly. "That's what I thought! Well, have I got an opportunity for you!"

I stare at him blankly. He doesn't seem to get the hint. "And that opportunity is…?" I lead, gesturing for him to continue.

"Right! Well, I found this guy at the recycling center who said he knows this guy who knows this other guy, who knows this third guy who's selling a Duel Runner, and for cheap!" he exclaims excitedly.

"Are you serious?" I ask, my jaw dropping slightly in shock. If this is legit, then the past few days of searching have paid off; the key to my memories might very well be just beyond the trash-strewn horizon.

Blitz nods vigorously. "Yes! It's this way, come on!" he says, turning and practically sprinting down an alley toward the east of the subway.

He doesn't even stop to look to see if I'm following, so I have no choice but to run after him. It's a game of hopscotch trying to keep up—someone who has lived here their whole life is certainly much less squeamish about their feet being covered with garbage. The buildings close in tighter around us, and soon the path becomes so narrow that we have to move single-file, with no room to run beside one another.

We break through the alley and into another plaza area, this one a dead end, lined with broken windows and dark, yawning doorways. At the furthest end lies a massive concrete building, short in stature, but square and sprawling, probably longer than all the others in that area. There's something ominous about it, and the very sight of it makes my stomach turn like I'd just eaten more of that black ration bacon.

Milling about in front of said building at the foot of a short staircase is a rather rough-looking guy in a ripped leather jacket with a sickly green mohawk. The sleeves are torn off and he wears a ripped green t-shirt underneath, but it must be too small for him, because his midriff is exposed. He turns to face us as we start to approach; he eyes me warily, but when his shifty eyes fall on Blitz, his face breaks out into a hungry grin, like a wolf spotting its prey.

"Hey, I told you I had someone who was looking for a Duel Runner!" Blitz says, raising is hand in greeting. He's practically bouncing as we approach the guy, and I can't help but notice that he looks an awful lot like those guys who were chasing Rally a few days back…

"Ha, good timing! Just had a few other guys come by to ask about it," he replies, clasping his hands together. He turns to me and grins again, and it's all I can do to fight the urge to hit that grin off his face. "So! What can I do to put you in a Duel Runner today?"

I glance over to Blitz, thinking, _Man, why did you have to find a sleazeball like this?_ After a moment, I reply, "Well… how much are you trying to get for it?"

He purses his lips for a second as if he's thinking, then says, "Well, I told the last guy who offered 1500, but I could probably go for… 1000?"

"1000 _what_, exactly?" I ask, feeling the pit of my stomach sink. I haven't got any form of currency on me, as far as I'm aware.

"You know those things they call DP? Duel Points, or something like that?"

I recall Nervin and Tank talking about that over their nightly cans of meat the night before; it's apparently a currency that's been commonplace in the City but has only recently been ported over here. They somewhat pay the workers in the plant with it, but it's very minimal—it would probably take Blitz, Nervin and Tank weeks, if not months to save up 1000…

Instinctively, I reach into my pockets for money that I knew wouldn't be there, only to find a small leather pouch tucked deep into my left pocket. I fish it out and open it up, revealing a large amount of shining silver and gold coins.

The guy's eyes go wide and he begins to salivate as he sets his sights on all the coins. "Y-yeah, that looks like enough…" he says hungrily, further wringing his hands as he no doubt dreams of what he could do with all that.

"Ben, how did you get so much DP?" Blitz asks in shock. "There's gotta be… 5000 there, at least!"

"I have no idea, I've never seen it before," I admit, but I can tell Blitz doesn't quite believe me. "I just felt around in my pocket and it was there…"

The guy is clearly disappointed when I go through the trouble of counting out 1000 DP and then hand it to him, but he pockets the coins and nods. "Be right back," he says, disappearing into the building and returning a few minutes later pushing a pale blue motorcycle. He guides it down the stairs and lets it come to rest in front of Blitz and I. "Here you are, gentlemen! Pleasure doing business with ya!" and with that, he runs back into the building.

Blitz and I take a moment to survey my newly purchased vehicle.

It's very angular, with a piercing point stabbing forward about halfway over the wheel, then beginning a slope downward and upward. The upper slope heads into the handlebar area of the Duel Runner, underneath which a dusty glass display shows a series of dials, counters and screens, then curves backwards into a leather seat and then into the back point, jutting out halfway over the back tire. Here and there, silver markings are placed in decently appealing ways, though they seem to just be random patterns rather than meaning anything.

"…Looks nice, huh?" Blitz says proudly, placing a hand on one of the handlebars.

"A bit old, but for the price, yeah," I agree, acting as if I know how much a Duel Runner should cost. "Thanks for your help Blitz, I'd never have found this without you!"

"Heh, you think so?" Blitz chuckles bashfully, scratching a red cheek. His eyes pop open again and he grabs the other handlebar. "Come on! Let's go show the others!"

I nod, get behind it, and we begin to push it back along the path we had just taken.

* * *

The Duel Runner is actually very light, something which provided some relief for Blitz and I as we hurried it back to the subway, but which proved to be more of a pain than anything after we get it down the stairs…

"HEY! THERE'S NO ENGINE IN THIS PIECE OF JUNK!"

Rally, Nervin and Tank had all been overjoyed to see us wheel the vehicle into the hideout, crowding around it the second we put the kickstand down and let it rest in between two pillars. The questions went around—how much did I pay, where we found it, and then what was inside it.

Blitz and I realized then that we had failed to ask what sort of engine was in there, which leads into Blitz's angry outburst just now.

He seethes and stomps around for a few minutes while the rest of us eat our weird-smelling sandwiches, probably a little less angry than we should be but hey, we're hungry.

After he calms down, he sits next to me and opens up his own weird sandwich. "I'm sorry Ben," he says through bites of sandwich. Rage must have worked up an appetite in him. "This is all my fault… I can't believe I trusted that dirtbag…"

"Hey, don't get so down Blitz," I reply, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's not that big of a deal…" I don't bother to bring up that I had had a bad feeling about the guy to begin with—better to not add insult injury.

"Yes it is a big deal! That was a lot of money you spent!" Blitz shoots back. The anger's rising again, I can tell. He throws his half-eaten sandwich to the ground and stands up, clenching his fists in anger. "I'm gonna go give that lowlife a piece of my mind! I'll be back later, guys."

As he stomps out of the subway, Tank asks, "Think he'll care if I have the rest of his sandwich?"

After excusing myself from the eating circle, I hurriedly follow an angry voice down the same path we had just walked with the useless Duel Runner. I burst into the plaza, just in time to see the green-haired thug dragging a struggling Blitz into the building with the help of another purple-haired thug. The doors slam shut behind them, and suddenly everything is quiet again.

I rush after them, slamming my shoulder into the door to try and bust it open, but only succeed in hurting my shoulder. For a door that has probably been through an explosion of some sort, it's surprisingly sturdy, or else I'm surprisingly weak. I bang my fist against the door several times, but there's no response. I try to peer inside through the cloudy glass doors, but it's too dark to see.

And so, all that's left for me to do is go back to the subway. Maybe Nervin or Tank will be able to help…

When I get back Tank is standing guard outside, and when he spots me he jogs over. I explain the situation, and together we hurry down into the darkness of the subway, where I then proceed to repeat the same explanation to Rally and Nervin.

"What was he thinking?! Damn it," Nervin scowls, clenching his fists. "I don't know… without Yusei here, I don't know if there's anything we can do to help…"

Tank echoes this sentiment, but Rally instead stares incredulously between the two of them. "Are you kidding me?! Guys, come on! We have to do _something_ to help Blitz!"

The other two look ashamed, but say nothing. Finally I speak up and give a suggestion, "This place could be kind of dangerous… maybe you guys should hang back for a bit, wait for Yusei. If Blitz and I don't come back soon, come after us," I say.

Rally looks like he wants to object, but as the other two nod he sighs and says, "Alright… but, here, take this with you," he says, digging through his pocket and pulling out a card. "This is Turbo Booster, my favorite card… it belonged to my dad. Use it and save Blitz, Ben."

I gently take the card from his hand and smile at him. I notice that it's an EARTH monster, and my mind immediately flashes back to me using Gaia to defeat him days before. "Thanks Rally. I'll be sure to use it well," I say gratefully, before running out of the subway for what must have been at least the third time that day alone.

Once I get back to the thugs' hideout, I find the same guy who had sold me the Duel Runner waiting out front. He gives me a sleazy grin as I approach, and says, "Welcome back! Come to make another purchase?"

"A withdrawal, actually," I reply, saying what may very well be the cheesiest line I've ever said. Granted, I have very little to compare it to, so I may be wrong, but from the way it feels coming from my mouth I hope I'm not wrong. "One Blitz, please."

"Hmm? Oh, you mean that purple-haired guy with glasses? I haven't seen him since you two came by for the Duel Runner," he replies, crossing his arms over his chest and displaying a Duel Disk.

Instead of responding, I give him my best tough-guy glare, trying to show that I won't be backing down any time soon.

"I can see you aren't backing down any time soon," he says after a moment, his eyes flashing with some mix of anger and nervousness. "Alright then—let's duel. If you win, I'll let you in so you can see for yourself. Sound good?"

I nod, stepping toward him and activating my Duel Disk. The anger is threatening to boil over inside me as I begin worrying over what might have happened to Blitz.

* * *

"**DUEL!"**

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Thug: 4000 LP**_

"Since an unsatisfied customer has come for his money back, I'm taking the first move!" he declares, drawing a card from his deck. He studies his hand for a moment, and then declares, "I'll summon Defender, the Magical Knight in attack mode!"

A knight in heavy blue armor steps forth from a green portal. Gold runs along the edges of his armor, in various patterns all built around several large, round rubies. A massive shield rests in one hand, inlaid with an even larger ruby in the center of the shield surrounded by a curving, symmetrical golden pattern, and in the other hand he holds a very short sword with a fat silver blade. A blue cape billows out from his shoulders while he stares out from beneath his gold-visored helmet, his pale face neutral and uncaring. **(Defender, the Magical Knight: Level 4, LIGHT, Spellcaster-type; 1600 ATK/2000 DEF)**

"When Defender is summoned, I can place a Spell Counter on him!" the thug explains as the ruby on Defender's shield begins to glow. A golden triangle appears, its three points missing, though at my opponent's declaration one point appears, a golden glowing circle at the top-left. "I'll place one card face-down and end my turn there! Your move, Mr. Customer!" **(Defender, the Magical Knight: 1 Spell Counter)**

I grit my teeth as I draw. Something about this salesman routine is really starting to piss me off. Glancing through my hand, I immediately declare, "I summon Elemental Hero Knospe in attack mode!"

A tiny yellow plant blooms into existence on my side of the field, seeming to push up through a crack in the cement as it appears at my side. Thin leaves cover its bottom and neck, while a cape of leaves is held to it by a thin silver rope clasped together by a small round amethyst. Its hands and head are made of buds, and it has a tiny, cute face, with small eyes the same color as the gem clasping its cape. **(Elemental Hero Knospe: Level 3, EARTH, Plant-type; 600 ATK/1000 DEF)**

"Maybe I should have charged you extra then! You clearly think that 600 ATK can take on 1600," taunts the thuggish salesman.

"Maybe I should have just beaten you up and taken the Duel Runner," I shoot back, placing another card on my Duel Disk. "I play Rose Bud! By tributing Knospe, I can summon its evolved form—Elemental Hero Poison Rose!"

Knospe begins to glow with a blinding light, and as the moments pass it begins to grow until it is nearly my height. The buds on its arms and head slowly open, the leaves on its body lengthen into what is almost a dress, and it takes on a humanoid shape. Her skin is a light blue, and she has a long mane of white rose petals jutting out from her head, almost like hair, and now a slim gold tiara set with an amethyst rests on her head. **(Elemental Hero Poison Rose: Level 6, EARTH, Plant-type; 1900 ATK/2000 DEF)**

"Now, my lovely rose, hit his knight with your Thorn Blizzard!" I order, throwing my hand out.

As if mimicking me, she throws her hand outward too, and from her long leafy sleeves comes a barrage of tiny black thorns, flying through the air directly at Defender. Though some fly past and pierce the thug, the knight hunkers down behind his shield and remains unscathed.

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Thug: 3700 LP**_

"Hey, how come your monster isn't destroyed?" I call across curiously once the bombardment ends.

"Well, valued customer, that's how Defender's effect works! By removing one Spell Counter from him, I can prevent a Spellcaster from being destroyed," the annoying salesman replies as the gold triangle on Defender's shield fades out. **(Defender, the Magical Knight: 0 Spell Counters)**

"Well, since you're mentioning effects, Poison Rose has her own that activates! Each time she inflicts battle damage, she gains 200 ATK and loses 200 DEF!" **(Elemental Hero Poison Rose: 1900 – 2100 ATK / 2000 DEF – 1800 DEF)**

"From there, I'm going to place two cards face-down and end my turn," I say, passing the duel over to him.

"Hmm, what to do now? I can't wait to unleash my magical mischief on you," he says, drawing a card. "I know! I'll flip over my facedown card, Pitch-Black Power Stone!"

Appearing beside him is a massive black stone, patterned with the same golden triangle on Defender's shield. All three points of the triangle glow, and some kind of energy emanates from it in waves of red aura. **(Pitch-Black Power Stone: 3 Spell Counters)**

"When my trap is activated, I place 3 Spell Counters on it. Once per turn, I can move one of the Spell Counters to any card I can place one on—namely Defender!"

The gold triangle on Defender's shield begins to glow again as the same upper-left point appears. **(Defender: 1 Spell Counter)**

"Now I'll summon my Crusader of Endymion in attack mode!"

Beside Defender, a new portal opens up and allows the entrance of another monster in heavy blue armor. However, it's very clear that beneath the armor is a very skinny body, with tiny hands and legs as thin as sticks; there's something intimidating about it though. It looms over Defender, and even more rubies line its armor and along the long blue robe that covers its front; as I look closer, it becomes clear that the armor is being held up by pure magical power. **(Crusader of Endymion: Level 4, LIGHT, Spellcaster-type/Gemini; 1900 ATK/1200 DEF)**

"Now valued customer, I change Defender to defense mode and end my turn!"

Another draw, and another card that I quite like seeing. I've been getting fairly good draws, though my starting hand was a little lacking. Knospe and Polymerization, then a card called Wroughtweiler, Miracle Fusion, which I set as a bluff, and Hero Barrier are what I started with; I then drew into Rose Bud, and now Elemental Hero Bubbleman.

"I won't hold back now—I'll play the Magic Card Polymerization! By fusing Wroughtweiler and Elemental Hero Bubbleman in my hand, I summon Elemental Hero Gaia!" I shout, feeling my blood boil after being forced to sit through his whole salesman schtick. I don't want to imagine what they must be doing to Blitz in there… I just know I have to get through and save him.

The ground trembles as the colossal fist thrusts forth from a massive green portal, smashing into the ground as he climbs out and takes his place beside Poison Rose. Teen feet tall or more, the earthen warrior assumes a fighting stance, ready for battle. **(Elemental Hero Gaia: Level 6, EARTH, Warrior-type; 2200 ATK/2600 DEF)**

A long black shadow falls upon the Spellcasters and their master, and the crooked salesman's grin drops from his face. Even the Spellcasters seem to falter at first, but beneath the shadow the massive black stone glows gold and hums with its red aura.

"Next, through Gaia's effect, I can halve the attack of one of your monsters and give it to Gaia. Gaia, hit Crusader of Endymion with your Stone Splitter!" I order.

Gaia smashes his fist into the ground, sending long spears of rock flying toward the Crusader. He tries to block with his heavy armor, using magic to swivel it around to his front, but the spears pierce it; again, as they sap his strength, he shrinks, and Gaia grows. **(Elemental Hero Gaia: 2200 ATK – 3150 ATK / Crusader of Endymion: 1900 ATK – 950 ATK)**

"I'll now activate my facedown, Miracle Fusion! By removing from play monsters on my field or in my Graveyard, I can Fusion Summon an Elemental Hero! I'll remove Bubbleman and Knospe in order to summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!"

And again, the man of ice appears, leaping up out of a portal, his icy armor shining as he catches the sunlight. The interwoven snowflakes that make up his cape seem translucent in the afternoon glow, and his eyes burn a bright, frozen blue, like stars. **(Elemental Hero Absolute Zero: Level 8, WATER, Warrior-type; 2500 ATK/2000 DEF)**

The crooked salesman's jaw drops further, his once-greedy eyes now only showing shock, and perhaps fear. His lip trembles, and it appears as if he's about to say something, perhaps begin calling for a trusted family member to hide behind.

"Now it's time to show you what happens when you mess with my friends! Gaia, you get the first attack! Tectonic Takedown, hit his Crusader!" the roar rips from my throat with such fury that I'm even scaring myself somewhat. Blood boils like lava bursting from a volcano as Gaia stomps across the field, its pace picking up until it's charging like a bull.

"Hold on! Have you forgotten about Defender's effect?" calls the thug, taken out of his terrified trance as Gaia bears down on his scrawny monster. "I'll remove a Spell Counter from him and Crusader isn't destroyed!" My hero smashes into the spellcaster, but after returning to my field, the dust kicked up by his powerful charge clears up to reveal the unscathed Crusader. **(Defender, the Magical Knight: 0 Spell Counters)**

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Thug: 1500 LP**_

Whereas in the past few duels I've felt as if I were in autopilot as I made my plays, now I know I'm in full control of my actions. I may have shown mercy once and given him a turn to try and come up with a defense, but he made his mistake and now, it's going to cost him.

"Absolute Zero, freeze him! Glacial Suplex!" And on command, the snow-cloaked hero dashes across the field, gliding forward on ice-bottomed boots. Without even having to specify the target, he wraps his icy arms around Crusader and gives it a hard suplex, headfirst into the ground. Ice shatters from Absolute Zero's body and surrounds the thug in a freezing whirlwind, and he lets out a scream as the ice closes in around him.

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Thug: 0 LP**_

Our monsters fade from existence, but not before Absolute Zero and Gaia turn to face me, or at least seem to face me. I can't tell if I'm imagining it or not, but every time I've summoned one of them, they seem more… responsive than a hologram should be.

The thug rests on his knees, tan hands clenched on the ground as his chest heaves through heavy breaths. Finally, he looks up at me, stands, and unlocks the doors behind him.

"As promised… the doors have been unlocked for the satisfied customer. Please take up any further issues with my compatriots inside," he says, before running off with his tail between his legs.

The doors slide open with an ominous creak, and a deep black void yawns out from behind it. Blitz is inside there… and I know I've got to save him.

Steeling my nerves and repeating, "Be a hero," I walk forward into the squat concrete building, only giving a slight jump as the doors creakily shut behind me.

"Your monsters are heroes… it's time for you to be a hero too."

_TO BE CONTINUED…_

* * *

**AND THERE WE GO! I apologize deeply for the lateness on this chapter, I meant to have it out Wednesday or Thursday, but some circumstances came up and my wife and I were unable to get back home until Sunday. I just want to say thank you all so much for the condolences, I really appreciate it, my sister and I were both very close to our grandpa and it wasn't easy. He had a good life though, and he got to hold my daughter before he passed so he was happy.**

**Anyways, all that depressing nonsense out of the way, I do apologize for leaving the chapter on such a note, but I wanted to make sure you guys didn't have to wait too long for the upload. A little more narrative-heavy rather than duels, but next chapter will be pretty heavy on the duels! I also tried to establish a bit more worldbuilding, since there's never really any mention of food in the Satellite (from what I can remember), and the bit about the Duel Points is actually borrowed from a fic called Sutādasuto Accelerator by Yusei. I was at a bit of a loss on how to implement it, so I hope you can all forgive me for borrowing that. **

**Also, we got to see a bit of Ben actually getting mad there at the end. I wonder how he'll deal with things once he gets to fighting the rest of the thugs. I'm a very calm person irl, so anger isn't something I have a lot of experience with lol, so I hope that I portrayed it alright. **

**Anyways, I'm hoping I'll be able to have the next chapter done this week, but please bear with me if I can't. Trying to get settled back in with an infant is very difficult, especially after being away from home for a few weeks. I'll go ahead and cut the monologuing here, so as always, **

**Take care, brush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~!**

**P.S. Time Thief, you're actually very close to guessing his ace! Shining isn't his main ace, but until he gets his primary guy back, Shining will more or less serve as his backup ace.**


	4. Chapter 4: To Be A Hero

**Chapter 4: To Be A Hero**

* * *

I'm not sure how they still worked, but the automatic doors close behind me with a creaky click, and then everything is silent.

It takes a moment, but my eyes soon adjust to the dark inside of the building. It appears to more or less be an abandoned grocery store—which might explain the salesman persona of that thug outside, or else he may just be a bit out of his mind.

From the ceiling, long-dead fluorescent lights hang down in long gray rows, almost like bones forming a ribcage around the massive room. Thick stainless steel counters sit scattered around the room, all a dark smoky gray in the absence of light; some still bear remnants of what once rested on them, from rotting remains of crates to a smashed box that once served as a computer monitor. Shadows fill every corner.

There's something deeply unnerving about this place, but I force it back down. _Blitz needs my help,_ I tell myself. _Be a hero, be brave._

My deck slot begins to emit a soft golden glow as I finish my thoughts, giving off a small bit of light similar to what one may expect from a flashlight with low batteries. It startles me at first, but something about it is also comforting, like the presence of a trusted friend… or perhaps multiple trusted friends.

With the guiding light of my deck showing the way, I begin a steady walk across the cracked tile floor, my footsteps echoing throughout the cavernous room, breaking the stillness of the air with thunderous sound. The sheer noise from each step causes me to cringe slightly each time my foot touches the ground, but I push onward, skirting past a scratched steel counter and ducking under a thin metal bar.

"Who's there?" comes a voice from the back of the room. It's gruff and threatening, but instead of becoming afraid and turning back, I push on. _Be a hero._ "Kuroe, is that you?"

I notice a dim light outlining a doorway toward the back of the room, diagonally left of the entryway. A mohawked figure stands in said doorway, tall and skinny as a twig. I begin crossing across the floor wordlessly, keeping my eyes on the man until his figure leaves the doorframe.

Finally I hear a click, and a few of the overhead lights burst to life with dim light, just barely illuminating the man and myself.

If I hadn't thrashed the green-haired man outside, I'd have assumed this were the very same person. Same clothes, piercings, everything, down to the greedy facial expression… except his hair is a dark purple.

"Hey—you're not supposed to be in here!" he says, frowning at me. "This is private property, get the hell out!"

"Who's gonna make me?" I reply coyly, trying to seem tough. "I'm here for a friend of mine. Hair the same color as yours, but less stupid. You seen him?"

"If you're not going to leave, I'll just have to kick you out," he responds, raising his arm to reveal a banged-up Duel Disk. Countless notches and dents mar the metal surface, and the red piece of plastic that should cover the Graveyard slot has been torn off.

"Still not answering my question," I reply, activating my Duel Disk.

"Yeah, I've seen him. He's in the back, but you'll be a lot worse for wear when I'm done with you." He smirks at me, his greedy black eyes shining coldly in the dim light. "I'm not sure how you beat Kuroe, but you're not getting past me."

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

"**DUEL!"**

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Thug 2: 4000 LP**_

"I'll give you the first move—this duel will end the same no matter who goes first," I concede, drawing my hand. Woodsman, Voltic Spear, and Wroughtweiler all appear as recurring favorites, alongside newcomers the hero of light Flash and the trap card, Hero Counterattack.

My opponent's lips curl back in a cruel sneer. "You're right, I'll be taking the victory and then kicking your ass out of here. I draw!" He draws a card from the top of his deck and his sneer widens. "I'm already ahead here, I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode!"

From a green portal, a large dragon flies out and touches down beside the thug. Its skin is a deep blue and crystalline, and seems to be made of living sapphires. Sharp claws and sharp white fangs glint in light reflected from the gems, its thin, leathery wings flapping quietly as it stares me down with hungry yellow eyes. **(Luster Dragon: Level 4, WIND, Dragon-type; 1900 ATK/1600 DEF)**

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn! Are you ready to become dragon food?" he taunts as I wordlessly draw a card: Elemental Hero Sparkman.

I pause for a moment to collect my thoughts and make my decision. There's a few things I can do here, but the same comforting feeling returns as I see Woodsman in my Hand. Perhaps…

"I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode, and I'll also be equipping him with my Magic Card, Voltic Spear!" I call out, placing the cards onto my Duel Disk.

Sparkman in appearance seems quite similar to Voltic—in fact, if Sparkman were a bit more muscular, they may in fact be twins. A blue bodysuit covers his body, metallic gold armor adorning his chest and shoulders. A set of blue wing-like appendages extend from his back, trimmed with gold, and his hands are outstretched to give a view of the two pale white circles on his palms, lightning crackling inside them. Soon the lightning-bolt shaped spear appears in Sparkman's left hand, sparks leaping off from the tip. **(Elemental Hero Sparkman: Level 4, LIGHT, Warrior-type; 1600 ATK – 1900 ATK/1400 DEF)**

"Hey genius, can't you do math? Your little superhero has the same amount of ATK as my dragon, you can't do anything without them both being destroyed!" the thug remarks.

"I'll place a card of my own facedown, and I'll call it there," I state, unperturbed by his taunting. _A hero doesn't concern himself with the opinion of villains, _a voice inside me says; I cannot place it, but I know it well. It's comforting. _Let's see him laugh when justice comes down on him._

"Well, before you end your turn allow me to activate my Trap—Dragon's Rebirth! By removing from play my Luster Dragon, I can Special Summon one Dragon from my hand," he explains as his trap flips up, and a swirling vortex opens behind Luster Dragon. "I play my Chthonian Emperor Dragon!"

The sapphire dragon disappears into the vortex, and in its place, a dragon with a long, wormlike body slithers out. Its body is covered in black scales, with white bone-like spines running along its body and coming to a sharp, spear-shaped point at its tail. Four sets of leathery bat-like wings flap powerfully every few seconds, while a pair of blood red eyes settle upon my monster coldly. **(Chthonian Emperor Dragon: Level 6, FIRE, Dragon-type/Gemini; 2400 ATK/1500 DEF)**

My foe draws a card and grins. "I'll summon my Chthonian Emperor Dragon again to gain his effect!"

I frown and interrupt, "What do you mean? You've already summoned him, are you going to tribute summon another one?"

"He's a Gemini monster, you moron," he thumbs his nose at me, regaining his contemptuous sneer at my apparent lack of knowledge.

"Okay, what the hell is a Gemini monster?" I ask, the term unfamiliar to me. I think of a monster called Gemini Elf, but I get the distinct feeling this isn't what he means.

He rolls his eyes. "Gemini monsters count as Normal Monsters while they're on the field or in the Graveyard, but while they're on the field, you can Normal Summon them a second time to gain their effects," he explains, in a tone that one may use to explain to a young child who won't stop asking annoying questions.

I pause. "…What kind of moron came up with that?"

"I've wondered the same thing for years, but never mind that! Thanks to Chthonian Emperor Dragon's effect, he can attack twice per Battle Phase!" he shouts triumphantly, pointing at my hero. "Chthonian Emperor Dragon, slaughter his little hero! Hellflame Inferno!"

I didn't have a defense for it, so all that I can do is watch as a burst of bright orange flames charge forth from the dragon's gaping maw. Sparkman is consumed by the blaze in an instant, his black silhouette outlined against the burning heat, which radiates off and feels as if it's burning me as well.

**Ben: 3500 LP / Thug 2: 4000 LP**

I grin at him. "It's time for a counterattack—specifically, my Trap Card, Hero Counterattack!" I say as my facedown card flips upward, revealing an image of ironically enough, Sparkman. "When one of my Heroes is destroyed in battle, you choose one random card in my Hand. If it's an Elemental Hero, I can summon it and destroy one card you control!"

"Oh yeah? Well, not every card can be a Hero! I choose the one on the far right!"

With the grin widening, I take the card and turn it to reveal, "You chose correctly—Elemental Hero Woodsman! And once I summon him, I'll destroy your Emperor Dragon!"

In an instant, Woodsman's card appears on my Duel Disk, and Woodsman appears on my field. He leaps high into the air, nearly touching the tall ceiling of the building, and throws himself at the dragon. He thrusts one hand forward, and vines fly outward, coiling around the dragon and holding it in place as the half-wooden man smashes his outstretched fist into the bound dragon's torso, causing it to shatter into a blizzard of pixels. **(Elemental Hero Woodsman: Level 4, EARTH, Warrior-type; 1000 ATK/2000 DEF)**

The thug scowls. "You got lucky for now, but just about everything in my deck has more ATK than that little hero! Make your move!"

"Your monsters may have more ATK, but your field's empty. What you should ask is, will you even be able to summon them?" I reply, feeling a swell of courage inside me as I draw my next card, immediately seeing another newcomer: Elemental Hero Forger, an effect monster that appears as a heavily muscled man working at a blazing forge, hammering away at a burning white Voltic Spear. "I'll start out by activating the effect of Woodsman! During my Standby Phase I can add a Polymerization from my Deck to my Hand—and right away, I'll use it to fuse my Woodsman and Elemental Hero Forger in my Hand!"

The swirling blue vortex appears overhead as Woodsman leaps from my field and Forger from my Hand, spinning away into apparent nonexistence as they disappear into the portal.

"Born from the fiery core of the Sun itself, this hero comes forth with a burning fury and an unquenchable thirst for justice! Fire 'em up, Elemental Hero Nova Master!"

Clad in hot red and yellow armor, the Hero bursts forth from a green portal, his red cape swirling and flickering like a living flame. Beneath the armor is a black bodysuit, covered by the armor that appears to be shaped after an inferno, with two gold orbs on the front shoulders glowing with light; I can't help but wonder if Forger had created that armor. The air around him seems to distort from the pure heat coming off of him. **(Elemental Hero Nova Master: Level 8, FIRE, Warrior-type; 2600 ATK/2100 DEF)**

"Next I'll summon my Elemental Hero Flash!" I announce.

With a blinding flash of light, a blue-suited hero leaps forward and lands right beside the hero, apparently unfazed by the heat put off from Nova Master—a heat which even I feel. Twin silver spikes jut out from his back, curving outward, and steel gauntlets and a gorget cover his arms and throat/upper chest area; a silver visor is runs along his upper face, just over his eyes, and a yellow lightning bolt streaks upward from the visor to the top of his head. **(Elemental Hero Flash: Level 4, LIGHT, Warrior-type; 1100 ATK/1600 DEF)**

"Justice is coming for you, you villain! Can you hear its sweet melody?" I call out in an overdramatic fashion, feeling confidence surging through me as I see the fearful look in his eyes. "Nova Master, Flash, attack!"

Curling his arms close to his body, Elemental Hero Nova Master conjures a crackling ball of bright orange fire, his cloak billowing outward as he cocks his arm back and hurls it like a football. At this exact time, Flash drops into a low crouch, before breaking into a sprint and practically vanishing in an extraordinary burst of speed. His attack hits first, appearing directly behind the thug and delivering a hard side kick to his back, knocking him forward and directly into the fireball.

**Ben: 4000 LP / Thug 2: 300 LP**

Flash reappears on my side of the field and the thug drops to one knee, eyes wide and staring as he realizes what just hit him.

"I think that's enough for one turn. Better make this next turn count," I say, throwing a taunt back at him.

And make it count he does.

"I activate my Spell Card, Dragon Shrine! I can send one Dragon-type monster from my Deck to my Graveyard, then if it's a Normal Monster I can send another one—and I'll choose the Normal Monster, Guardragon Justicia, followed by another of the same!" he declares, a triumphant smirk emerging on his face. The 180 from hopeless to arrogant is astounding. "Then, I'll remove my Guardragon monsters and Chthonian Emperor Dragon from play to summon my ace—Frost and Flame Dragon!"

Nova Master and I share a look; if there were a way to describe what a combination of intrigue and, "I don't like where this is going," that would best explain how we felt then.

A whirlwind composed of flames and water swirls into life, steam hissing and fire roaring as it coalesces into a concrete shape. A two-headed dragon appears, a long serpentine tail covered in silver scales forming a body at least ten feet in length. Two short arms with three short claws extends from its body, and just above where the arms jut out the body splits into two heads. One head is a blazing orange-red, constantly shifting its shape as the flames that compose its head shrink and grow and flicker; the other is a pale blue and covered in armor-like scales with a long, thin mouth that gapes open to reveal sharp, dagger-like fangs. **(Frost and Flame Dragon: Level 6, WATER, Dragon-type; 2300 ATK/2000 DEF)**

I open my mouth to taunt him again, planning a snappy insult regarding his math skills and his mother, but another look from Nova Master quiets me. There's something in his gleaming red-orange eyes that make me cautious about what the new dragon has up its… sleeve?

As far as I can tell, the dragon doesn't have sleeves. Perhaps it's hiding a secret strategy between its scales?

"Got you at a loss for words, don't I?" the thug says snarkily, putting his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest. "What I've got in store for you is gonna make you wish you'd never crawled out of the junk heap! By discarding one card from my Hand, I can destroy a card on your side of the field, and can you guess who I'm going with?"

The fiery head lashes out, its neck stretching like some strange accordion from hell as it opens its blazing maw, revealing several rows of small orange teeth. At that same time, the frosty head thrusts forward, coiling like a constrictor as it exhales breaths of ice crystals.

And with a nod to Nova Master, I call out, "Not quite—Elemental Hero Forger's effect activates! By removing him from play in my Graveyard, I can protect Nova Master for this turn!"

As the flaming head draws near my flaming hero, he strikes out with a smoking hand and grabs the dragon by the throat, the other hand lunging in through the loops of the icy body and tying the two heads into a knot before hurling them back to the thug's side of the field. From there, they comically try and unwind themselves.

"Grr… you've saved your little hero for one turn, but I'll activate my Equip Spell, Dragon Treasure! Frost and Flame Dragon gains 300 ATK and DEF, putting him on the level with your Nova Master!"

A massive round emerald appears behind his dragon, and in response the long serpentine body coils around it protectively, one head on the left, the other on the right as it gazes menacingly at my monsters and I. **(2300 ATK – 2600 ATK)**

"Frost and Flame Dragon, attack his Flash! Searing Steam Burst!"

The two heads come together, twisting around one another as their maws open in unison. A gout of flames and a torrent of water burst from their mouths and swirl together, filling the area with steam as I feel the stifling heat of the fire encroaching upon us. Again I see my monster incinerated, the lightning-fast hero not quite quick enough to evade its doom, and I not near quick enough to dodge the punishing blow to my life points.

**Ben: 2500 ATK / Thug 2: 300 LP**

I cringe, but brush it off; I cannot explain what drives me to do so, but I activate Flash's effect: "When Flash is destroyed, I can remove him and up to three other Heroes from my Graveyard from play! Woodsman and Sparkman, I'll see you two later!"

To be quite honest, I'm not entirely sure what "removing from play" even means, aside from not being in the Graveyard, Deck, Hand or even field; however, something in my mind is telling me that it's integral to my strategy.

"Is that effect supposed to help you or something?! Next turn, Frost and Flame Dragon's effect will destroy your Nova Master, and then I'll wipe out your life points!" he howls with a cruel laugh.

Part of me wants to worry—I have to place all my hope on this draw, or else Blitz might never get out of here… but Nova and I lock eyes—again—and I feel the confidence swell up again, like waves at high tide.

I close my eyes, and say a quiet prayer to something, and then I draw… and I grin.

"I play the Magic Card, Hero Pressure! I target one monster you control, and it loses 300 ATK for each Hero on my field! Coincidentally, guess how many life points you have left?"

The arrogance drains from his face like water going down a drain as a burning fist obliterates his dragon in a cloud of steam. Tearing through the steam, Nova Master delivers a heat-packed punch with his flame-covered hand; the thug drops to his knees, staring into space as he realizes he's been beaten.

**Ben: 2500 LP / Thug 2: 0 LP**

* * *

I don't even wait for the holograms to disappear before I'm pushing past the thug, sending him sprawling to the floor on his side. I can't help but find him a bit overdramatic as he lays there catatonic, but I don't give him much mind as I dash toward the door.

But as I approach, who should step forth but yet another _almost_ identical copy of the last two thugs, this one with a yellowish mohawk instead of green or purple.

Unable to keep my annoyance in check, I grumble out, "Oh great, another one."

He smirks at me. "Another one," he confirms. "You may have beaten the last two, but you're not getting past me."

"You know the other two said the same thing, right? Just before I got past them?" I say in a deadpan tone; two duels in a row should be enough, shouldn't it?

"Yeah, but they're nothing compared to me and my turtles!" he says, brandishing his Duel Disk, showing me that the top has been painted like a turtle's shell. "I'll show you why I'm the leader here, come on!"

"Are you sure you don't want to go ahead and surrender? I'll let you pick up your buddies and leave," I offer, really not wanting another duel; the prospect of fighting a bunch of turtles is… uninteresting, to say the least. And it hurts my heart somewhat, something tells me that I rather like turtles.

The look in his eyes tells me enough; namely, it tells me, "Shut up and duel me, you [redacted]," and so I raise my Duel Disk with a weary sigh.

* * *

"**DUEL!/Duel…"**

**Ben: 4000 LP / Yet Another Thug: 4000 LP**

"The first move is mine! I summon Djinn Presider of Rituals in attack mode!" calls out the third and hopefully final thug.

For someone who was so proud of his "turtles," the fat green thing that comes out of the portal certainly doesn't look like a turtle, or any reptile or amphibian for that matter. Its body is a large doughy blob, with two thick arms and massive hands, one of which holds a large sword with a golden skull at the guard. A dark blue helmet sits atop its head adorned with a crest and red plumage. **(Djinn Presider of Rituals: Level 4, DARK, Fiend-type; 1800 ATK/1400 DEF)**

"Is that what turtles look like now?"

"Mind your own business! Now I'll play my Ritual Cage Spell Card! While it's on the field, I don't take any damage from battles involving my Ritual monsters, and they can't be destroyed or targeted by card effects!" he announces as a cage of golden light, like something from a fairy tale, surrounds us both, the bars shining with a threatening hum. "From there, I'll place two facedown cards and end my turn!"

As the telltale tone that signifies the facedown cards appearing occurs, I draw a card and look at my hand. Miracle Fusion; the heroes Flash, Clayman and Heat; and the traps, Hero Barrier and a card I've never seen before… Terra Firma Gravity. Something about this card is so familiar to me that just holding it makes my stomach a pit of intermixing happiness and sorrow, as I cannot even remember why it's so important.

I must have been staring at the card for some time, as the thug finally yells out, "Hey, you sleeping with your eyes open or somethin'? Come on!"

Peeling my eyes away from Terra Firma Gravity, I look back up to him. "Yeah, yeah, hold your horses. I summon Elemental Hero Heat in attack mode!"

Burning with the ferocity of a shooting star, Elemental Hero Heat bursts forward from the typical green portal that I've no doubt mentioned more times than I probably need to already. The burning flames that cloak his red-and-orange suit undulate like waves, climbing up his arms toward his closed fists and covering his face like armor. **(Elemental Hero Heat: Level 4, FIRE, Pyro-type; 1600 ATK/1200 DEF)**

"1600 ATK? Can't you do math, guy?" the thug taunts with a smirk, hardly even a moment after Heat appears on the scene. "My Djinn can crush it with ease!"

"Oh yeah? Even after his 200-ATK bonus?" I point out as the fires surrounding Heat strengthen, roaring like a thousand lions as he takes an offensive stance. "He gains 200 ATK for each Elemental Hero on the field, including himself—which brings him to 1800 ATK, or, as I like to call it… stronger than your fat green guy!" **(Elemental Hero Heat: 1800 ATK)**

The thug cringes, and I throw my hand outward in a sweeping gesture. Even without words, Heat understands, blazing forward propelled by jets of flames bursting from his back and feet. Cocking back a flame-cloaked fist, he drives a searing punch hard into the bulging stomach of the sword-wielding Djinn, shattering it into a thousand pixels.

**Ben: 4000 LP / Yet Another Thug: 3900 LP**

"From there, I set one card face-down and end my turn!" I say, placing Hero Barrier onto the field as an extra defense.

"My turn! I draw!" the thug declares as he pulls a card from the top of his deck. Rather than looking down glumly as I had hoped he would, since it would signify an almost imminent defeat for him, he grins, baring his teeth in a predatory smile that seems to send a shiver down even Heat's spine. "You've got no idea what you got yourself into by destroying my Djinn, kid. You see, when Djinn monsters are in the Graveyard, if I Ritual Summon a monster, I can remove them from play as tribute material…"

Not good.

"And I'll do just that! I activate Turtle Oath!" he howls, holding the card triumphantly toward the ceiling as it starts to glow. "I remove from play my Djinn in the Graveyard, as well as send my Djinn Prognosticator and Djinn Disserere from my Hand to the Graveyard, in order to summon my ultimate creature—the mighty Crab Turtle!"

The aforementioned cards disappear in a blinding flash of light, and the building seems to shake as the sounds of drums begins somewhere off in the distance, steadily getting closer, like a snake slinking along the ground.

And then, the monster appears.

Twelve feet tall at least, with a soft purple body encased in layers of green shell that seem to shine like diamonds. Two giant red crab claws jut out from openings on either side of the shell, with a dozen or more red crab legs sticking out at odd angles, moving constantly as if trying to walk through the air… but most unnerving of all is the single green eye, with a slitted pupil like a cat's, staring directly at Heat and I, unblinking. **(Crab Turtle: Level 8, WATER, Aqua-type; 2550 ATK/2500 DEF)**

"Next I'll activate my face-down, the Equip Spell known as Steel Shell! By equipping it to my Turtle, he gains 400 ATK but loses 200 DEF!" The thug bellows, as the shell turns blue and steel spikes erupt from it. **(Crab Turtle: 2950 ATK/2300 DEF)**

_Oh, even better._

"Crab Turtle, attack his Hero! Piercing Pincer Pinch!" the thug orders, and the abomination that is somewhere between turtle and crab lumbers forward, each step shaking the ground as it walks. As it approaches Heat, it raises a gleaming red pincer and starts to bring it down…

"Not so fast—I activate my Trap, Hero Barrier! When I have a Hero on my field, I can negate your atta—" I stop mid-sentence; the barrier appears around Heat, but the shiny red claw stabs through it and closes around Heat, crushing him to bits.

**Ben: 2850 LP / Yet Another Thug: 3900 LP**

"How…?" I say, at a complete loss after seeing my Hero and my trap fail right in front of me like that. It's not even disappointment tinging my tone, but rather utter confusion.

"Guess you didn't know about my Djinn Disserere, did you? When he's used for a Ritual Summon, the monster is unaffected by Trap Cards!" he explains, drawing a card from his deck before adding, "Also, my other two Djinns let me draw a card, and make you discard a card when my Crab Turtle destroys one of your monsters!"

I scowl, suddenly wishing I had just picked up a chunk of cement or something and bashed him over the head with it instead of dueling. Hesitantly, I discard my Elemental Hero Flash. _How am I gonna get out of this one, voice in my head?_

_I don't know. How are you going to get out of it, Ben?_ A voice replies, different than the last one.

I almost jump slightly as I hear it, admittedly a bit startled—which earns a scornful laugh from the thug at the other end of the duel field. _Well, I'm more or less hedging my bets all on this next draw…_

_Are you? You've got to stop thinking so dark. Think… light. Bright, shining light. That's what'll get you through here._

Bright… shining… light? Well… here goes nothing! "I draw!" I announce, drawing the trap, Magic Cylinder. _Not exactly helpful…_

I begin looking at my Hand once more, trying to figure out which will help me stall out the longest. Clayman has the highest DEF stat, but… my hand lingers briefly on Miracle Fusion, as I recall Flash that now rests in my Graveyard.

_Think light, huh?_ I think to myself. _If there's a Fusion for each other attribute, why not LIGHT?_

"I play my Magic Card, Miracle Fusion!" I raise my hand proudly, the card shining with a bright white light that flashes between the various colors of the rainbow. "By removing from play Elemental Heroes in my Graveyard or on my field, I can Fusion Summon a Hero from my Fusion Deck!"

His smug look turns to one of confusion as he tries to think of what I might have up my sleeve.

My immediate thoughts go to Nova Master, but I recall at once that with only 2600 ATK, he cannot defeat that cyclopean turtle. "By removing from play Flash and Heat in my Graveyard… I can summon…"

_Shine on, Ben! Let me loose!_

"The illumination of a distant star coalesces into the Hero with the power of light ready to shine the spotlight on anyone who fights against justice! Elemental Hero The Shining, let your light shine!"

A flash of white leaves us both temporarily blinded, but as it subsides I see the new arrival on the scene. His entire body is covered by a white bodysuit, trimmed with gold that outline various points such as elbows, kneecaps and muscles, all running toward his abdomen upon which a blazing red ruby sits. Two golden protrusions extend at an angle from his back, curving upwards until they reach a few inches from his head; eight golden lines then extend from those, giving an impression of the shining sun. **(Elemental Hero The Shining: Level 8, LIGHT, Warrior-type; 2600 ATK/2100 DEF)**

"But wait, there's more! The Shining gains 300 ATK for each of my Heroes that has been removed from play, granting him a 600 ATK bonus!" **(The Shining: 3200 ATK)**

My opponent cringes as he sees the beacon of bright light staring him down. "That guy can beat my turtle…" he says grimly.

"Oh, he can beat a lot more than just the turtle! Go on, The Shining! Hypernova Hammer Fist!" I decree.

At once, my hero of light springs into action. Dropping into a low crouch, he leaps across the field in one fluid motion, landing just in front of the turtle. A fist wreathed in light raises up high in the air, before coming down on the one-eyed amphibian's eye with all the force of a hammer, leaving a burning trail of light tearing the beast in half and crushing it into pixels.

**Ben: 2850 LP / Yet Another Thug: 3650 LP**

As Shining returns to my side of the field, he looks at me and I look back at him, and we nod in understanding.

_Good to be back, partner, _I hear his voice say. I cannot help but assume it's his voice—I'd be a bit worried if it were someone else's. While there's still something quite odd about hearing the voice of a monster… it's comforting; my memory does not recall why, but from hearing him I almost feel at home.

_Good to have you back,_ I reply. "From there, I end my turn!"

The thug draws a card, sets a monster, and passes. I draw a second Hero Barrier, which I set as well, but then I summon Woodsman—effectively cleaning out my Hand.

As the half-wooden man appears alongside the shining hero, I feel a surge of triumph welling up in my chest. The sight of those two united makes me feel like a hero too, as I realize that soon… Blitz will be saved.

The Shining delivers another devastating strike to his facedown monster, which is a pale blue tiger encased in a turtle shell, allowing Woodsman to send his encroaching vines to choke 1000 Life Points out of the thug.

**Ben: 2850 LP / Yet Another Thug, is this joke tired yet?: 2650 LP**

Another turn for the thug sees him summoning a rather cute little turtle with red eyes and a green shell known as Gora Turtle. **(Gora Turtle: Level 3, WATER, Aqua-type; 1100 ATK/1100 DEF)**

"Gora Turtle, attack his Woodsman!" he declares, a twinkle in his eyes again. The little turtle tucks its limbs into its shell and begins to spin at a rapid pace, before hurling itself at my half-tree before being stopped in its tracks at the reveal of my facedown.

"What, so eager to lose? The second it's my turn, Shining will smash it and Woodsman will deal the killing blow! Hero Barrier, stop that attack!" The swirling blue barrier appears in front of Woodsman, protecting him from the attack and reflecting the spinning turtle back at the thug.

"Oh yeah? I guess you didn't know that while Gora's on the field, mosnters with 1900 ATK can't declare an attack! Now how are you gonna stop him?" the thug asks.

_He's stalling. Seriously._

_If it works, it works… we'll just need another plan, _Shining replies in response to my mental groaning. _Perhaps… this? _

The top card of my deck begins to shine, the same bright light that heralded the appearance of my light hero emanating from the slot. "I draw…"

_This is it!_

"And activate my Equip Magic, Wildgrowth Axe!" I say, revealing the card as a vine-covered lumberjack axe appears in the hands of my Woodsman. "By equipping it to Woodsman, he gains 500 ATK and if he destroys a monster in battle, that monster's effect is negated!" **(Woodsman: 1500 ATK)**

"Go Woodsman! Chop that turtle to bits!"

* * *

And so just like the two before him, the thug falls to the power of justice. Rushing out the sliding doors to lick his wounds, I hurry past into the back room. The moment the doors close behind him, the lights go out, leaving me in the dark but for the shining light in the deck slot of my Duel Disk.

The back room is small and cramped, not what you'd expect to see in an old grocery store. It smells oddly of dirt, and as I shine my light around the room I can see that the room has almost entirely caved in, explaining the miniscule size.

And there in the center—Blitz, spread-eagled on the floor. His eyes are closed, glasses broken into pieces a few feet away, and his face is bruised and bloody, but as I kneel beside him I can tell he's still alive.

"Hey, Blitz…" I say, nudging him, trying to wake him up. "Come on Blitz, get up."

His eyes steadily open, struggling at first but finally opening all the way and looking up at me. "Ben…" he groans, his hands clenching as if trying to grasp onto something. Finally his hands lay flat on the floor and he pushes himself partially up. "They really roughed me up, huh? I'm sorry you had to come save me…"

"Don't worry about it, man," I say, sitting down on the floor next to him. "Isn't this what friends are for?"

"Heh, yeah," he says, struggling to sit up as well. It's clear he's in quite a bit of pain still, so rather than hurry him out of the building I give him some time to take it easy. "Still, thanks… it's all my fault I got us into this."

"Nah." I wave it off. "You're just trying to help out a friend, how can I fault you for that?"

"So… how bad did you beat them? You did beat them all didn't you?" he asks after a moment, straightening out his torn vest.

I give him a grin, and stand up. "Villainy is no match for a hero. Even if it's someone who's just a hero for fun," I say, offering my hand. "Let's get you home. Rally and the others are worried sick."

* * *

**AND THERE WE GO! It's been almost a month, and I am SO SO SOOO sorry about that! To make it short, Windows decided that I no longer needed to be logged into my Microsoft account, so I'd have to sign into that first before I could sign in using my PIN number. The problem—I made my Microsoft account 10+ years ago on my 360, and I gotta say, Microsoft customer support can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.**

**Anyway, all that aside, I can promise you all I won't be taking such a long break again without informing you all. I will also apologize if there's a bit of a difference in quality in certain parts of the chapter, when I finally **_**did**_** get back onto my computer several of my documents were… a bit less whole than they were the last time they were saved, so I had to rewrite more of this chapter than I would have liked to. **

**So, what do we see this chapter? Two duels in a row! I've given the baddies a bit of a deck update, mainly because I don't want Ben to be absolutely stomping everyone, which against the generic AI decks is a bit of an issue. Be sure to let me know if you guys still like how the duels are going; these bad guys aside, once Ben reaches the City, you can expect the opponents to be a lot tougher. We also get to see Ben's apparent ability to interact with card spirits-or at least one card spirit, in the form of Elemental Hero The Shining! What does this mean, I wonder? ...Well, not _wonder, _because I know, but can you all figure it out?**

**Anyway, I've gone on long enough. So, allow me to say,**

**Take care, brush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya (which will hopefully not be NEAR as long this time), PEACE!**

* * *

**Also before I forget, here are the created cards I've used this chapter:**

_**Elemental Hero Forger**_

_**Level 3 / FIRE / Warrior-type**_

_**ATK/DEF: 500/1200**_

_**Effect: You can discard this card from your Hand to the Graveyard to add 1 Equip Spell that lists a specific "Elemental Hero" in its card text from your Deck to your Hand. If an "Elemental Hero" Fusion Monster you control would be destroyed by a card effect, you can remove this card in your Graveyard from play, and if you do, that monster is not destroyed.**_

_**Wildgrowth Axe**_

_**Equip Spell Card**_

_**Effect: Equip only to "Elemental Hero Woodsman." The equipped monster gains 500 ATK, and if it destroys an opponent's monster by battle, that monster's effect is negated.**_


	5. Chapter 5: So Long, Yusei!

**Chapter 5: So Long, and Thanks for All the Duel Runner Parts**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you've all realized by now, but I suck at chapter titles.**

* * *

The evening sunlight stings my eyes as I help Blitz limp out of the dim building, the sky dyed a deep orange-red as the bright yellow circle begins to sink behind a row of crumbling buildings. A dry breeze has picked up in the east, whistling through the labyrinth of buildings and carrying the faint stench of trash along with it, but days of searching for Duel Runner parts have made it so I only detect it on the very edge of my senses.

With one arm around his shoulder and one arm around mine, we descend the broken concrete steps that lead up to the abandoned building we leave behind. It's now that I can get a good sense for how tall I am; I knew that I was taller than Rally, who is still rather young, but even hunched over I can tell that I'm roughly of a height with Blitz, who I'd place at six feet or so.

It's steady going at first, not in any big hurry as we move at an easy pace toward the alley that provides our exit from the area. I can feel him tense with every step, and hear every ragged breath that he inhales and exhales as I pull him along. I have to feel bad as I guide him across the plaza, cringing every time he scowls or lets out a grunt of pain. Those thugs really did a number on him.

"Those thugs really did a number on you, huh?" I ask, trying to make a joke. I can't remember where, but I heard once that laughter can be as good as actual medicine… well, obviously not _that_ good, but it can't hurt, can it?

Wrong; it hurt very much. He lets out a wheezy chuckle, then immediately clutches his stomach with the other hand.

"Sorry," I apologize quickly, feeling ashamed again. I don't try and make him laugh again during the long trek back.

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

Given Blitz's injuries, we make better time than I had expected as he finds the strength to push onward; though the first ten minutes are like a three-legged race with one person being more or less dragged along, he slowly wills himself to move in time with my steps. I can feel his body protest every time his foot touches the ground, but he bites the bullet and walks on, heedless of the angry pain lancing through his body.

And finally, we see the crumbling overhead of the subway's entrance coming into view from behind the rusted skeleton of a car. If I've ever felt more relieved to see a decrepit concrete tunnel entrance that might be in danger of collapse, I can't remember.

As we approach, I hear Rally's overjoyed voice yelling from the gaping maw of the tunnel, and soon he comes bolting out of the darkness like a rush of orange fire. "Blitz! Ben! You're alright!" he says, looking as if he's about to tackle us but he comes to a screeching halt when he spots Blitz's condition.

"Spoke too soon, huh?" Blitz says, giving Rally a weak smile. "Sorry Rally… I didn't mean to worry everybody."

Ignoring Blitz's remark, giving a surprising display of strength Rally reaches behind Blitz, almost having to stand on his tiptoes at first, gently removing my hand from his shoulders and steadying the much taller man on his own. "Thanks so much Ben… I'm gonna see to his injuries, we'll be back in a bit."

"Thanks again, Ben. You're the best," Blitz says, favoring me with a pained smile as Rally begins marching him off.

"get me if you need any help," I call after them, but with an astonishing amount of speed Rally is able to get Blitz around the corner and out of sight within moments. I don't even hear Blitz scream like I would have expected.

Now that Blitz is safe, I feel a swell of pride in my chest. Is this what it feels like to help someone? I could get used to this; in fact, there's something in the back of my mind that says I am used to it, somewhat. It's familiar, and almost bittersweet, somewhat like those voices that reminded me of my name.

Either way, I think I kind of like helping people. Ironic I know, considering I use a deck full of superheroes.

Turning back toward the gaping abyss that leads down into the blackness of the subway, I give a small shrug, figuring that if they do need me they'll come for me, and begin the climb down. My footsteps echo off the concrete walls, and it seems as if another of the few remaining lights has joined the ranks of the drained. It's dark, and without Rally, admittedly a little creepy.

Going up and down repeatedly for the past few days has helped me figure out where I need to step to avoid slipping and breaking my neck, so despite the childish fear of the dark I don't waste any time getting down to the platform. There's nothing in the dark for me to be afraid of, after all; the only thing around here to fear is thugs, and they'll come at you right out in the open.

Nonetheless, I feel a slight chill shooting down my spine as I kick a bit of loose concrete and it scratches across the paved steps, before bouncing down to the very bottom. I don't like admitting to it, but I move a bit faster as I make for the beams of fluorescent light that are now one fewer.

And after what feels like an eternity of dodging between circles of light and hoping that something doesn't grab me in the shadows, my shoes touch down on the cracked gray floor of the platform. Gathered around the large shaft of sunlight that filters down from the crevice above are Tank and Nervin, sitting cross-legged beside my Duel Runner, talking in hushed voices.

Tank looks over in my direction, and a moment later Nervin does too. A quiet _tink_ cuts through the air, and soon Yusei's spiky head pokes up over my Duel Runner, a bit of grime covering his face.

Almost at once the three are on their feet, hurrying over to me.

"Ben, you're back!" Nervin says.

"Where's Blitz? Is he okay?" Tank asks quickly, looking over my shoulders to see if Blitz were following after.

Yusei doesn't say anything, so instead I start speaking. "Yeah, he should be okay. Rally's looking after him now," I confirm, walking forward to meet them.

"Are you alright, Ben?" Yusei asks finally, his blue eyes fixing on me. There's something intense in his gaze, something that sends a shiver down my spine when I meet it.

I nod. "Nothing my Heroes and I couldn't handle," I say, giving them a smile. "So what have you guys been up to while I was out?"

Nervin and Tank look at each other, then at Yusei, then at my Duel Runner, and then back to Yusei, who nods at them. Tank grins. "We were fixing up your Duel Runner!" he announces, beaming broadly at me.

My eyes widen slightly, my mind jumping to conclusions faster than Stratos jumped off the banlist… whatever that means. Did they somehow finish it all while I was gone? No, they couldn't have…

"_Yusei_ was fixing up your Duel Runner," Nervin corrects. "You were standing there holding a wrench tapping on things."

Tank looks sheepish then. "Well yeah, but—"

"And then you tried to untighten the bolt carriage, and I don't even know what that means," Nervin points out.

"Yeah, but I still helped…" Tank says, looking down.

The conversation lulls for a moment. "I'm sure you did a great job holding that wrench, Tank," I say finally, before sidling past him and walking toward my Duel Runner.

The light that beams down from the ceiling doesn't reveal anything new on it immediately, but as I get closer I can see that it's much cleaner than it was. The dust that covered the worn seat has been wiped away carefully, and a few holes in the old material have been mended. Some smudges on the paint have been taken care of, and, walking around the side that they had been working on, I can now see that a portion of the side panel has been removed, exposing the jungle of circuitry inside.

Yusei crouches down beside me and holds up a battered old flashlight, twisting the top and a dim light bursts into existence, a flat bronze circle that just barely shows the innards of the machine. He focuses in on a round, cylindrical device made of metal; it's clearly old, the light painting it a tarnished gray here and a dull reddish brown that is just a step above corrosion.

"This engine is one of my older ones," Yusei explains, pulling back and turning off the flashlight. "I cobbled it together from some old parts, so it's nothing fancy but it should serve you fine until you get to the city."

Hand-me-down mess or not, it's one of the most beautiful things I've seen since I woke up in the Satellite. "Thank you, Yusei," I say, smiling brightly at him.

"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do since you saved Blitz," he replies. His lips quirk upward slightly; I think he's smiling? It's hard to tell, as his eyes are still that same intense blue as before.

After a brief, but surprisingly detailed explanation on how to insert, remove and maintain the engine on a Duel Runner, Yusei excuses himself and again I hear the sound of his Duel Runner tearing down the echoing tunnels. Nervin and Tank had wandered off sometime during his lesson on maintaining motorcycles built for trading card game purposes, so now I find myself alone with my machine.

Briefly swivelling my head around like an owl to ensure I'm truly alone, I slowly hoist myself onto the seat of the Duel Runner. It bounces slightly as my weight presses down on it, but as I wrap my hands around the rubber grips on the handlebars, a feeling of calmness washes over me. There's something about this that just feels… right.

Suddenly the sound of laughter, weak and somewhat wheezy, comes from the darkened area a few feet outside of the light. Squinting my eyes through the gloom, I can recognize the form of Blitz, limping forward but with minimal difficulty. He's got more than a few bruises, angry purple lumps risen on his face and arms, and his favorite vest has been torn, but he's alive.

And it's in that moment, as I sit on my Duel Runner wondering why he was laughing, that I realize that I must have been making motorcycle noises as I pretended to rev up my Duel Runner. My cheeks flush a deep red as I quickly let go of the handlebars, sitting back on the dusty old seat.

"Yusei's got a new rival ahead of him, huh?" Blitz asks me, grinning through his pain. He leans against the front of my Duel Runner, sighing heavily as he shifts the weight from his right foot.

Finally, after I say nothing for a while, he says, "Ben, I don't know if I can ever repay you for what you did back there."

I shake my head. "Don't care if you can. I didn't help you because I wanted anything from you," I reply.

"But you wouldn't have had to go through all that if—"

"Doesn't matter. You're my friend, and you needed my help," I cut him off. "Now if you want to keep going on about repaying me, you'll wind up with three black eyes instead of two."

"W-what… how can you give someone three black eyes?" he pauses for a moment, gobsmacked.

"Keep asking and you'll find out," I remark airily, turning my stormy eyes to the crack in the concrete ceiling above. The orange sky is settling into deep, steadily darkening red, with no clouds in sight; I can swear I see a star too, gleaming a hot red-white, winking in and out of existence as if it's pulsating, but it should be too early to see stars…

Blitz laughs. "Thanks, Ben," he says.

We sit in silence for a few more moments, before he speaks up again. "You know, Yusei's leaving tonight. For the City, I mean," he says.

"I was wondering about that," I comment, prying my gaze away from the blinking star. "How come he's leaving? Does he have amnesia too?"

Blitz chuckles softly, letting out a quick, quiet cough as he does so, but shakes his head. "A long time ago, we had this friend named Jack," he explains. "One day, Jack stole one of Yusei's most prized cards, this amazing Synchro called Stardust Dragon, and then he ran off to the City!"

I nod in immediate understanding. "I'm guessing that's why he's been getting so much more intense with his rides lately," I note, glancing down the dark subway tunnel and casually wondering how long it'd been since someone other than Yusei had driven down it.

"Exactly. He wants to get to the City, find Jack, and see if he can't get his Stardust Dragon back," Blitz agrees.

"I'm still curious though, what's a Synchro? Rally mentioned it a time or two, but I could never get him to answer," I shift slightly in the seat of my Duel Runner, gently bouncing against the springy frame. Some part of me wondered if I should be doing that or not—but another part said, 'Keep bouncing, or you will die.'

I kept bouncing.

Blitz reached up a shaky hand and pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "Well, a Synchro… is a lot like your Fusion monsters, Ben," he says after taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "It's made up of two or more monsters, though usually the materials aren't so specific as Fusions; they always require a Tuner monster, which is combined with the other monsters to match the level of the Synchro."

Tuners, Synchros… it's a lot more complicated than a Fusion, that's for sure. "So… no Polymerization?"

"No Polymerization," Blitz confirms with a nod of his head, tossing his purple dreadlocks up and down. "The monsters have to be face-up on the field, though. So if a Tuner is face-down, but the other monsters are face-up, no matter what their levels add up to you can't Synchro."

I let out a low whistle. "I… am very glad that my Heroes don't do any Synchro Summoning."

"It's really not that hard, maybe you'll learn firsthand once you're in the City," Blitz smiles, pushing himself back into a standing position, using the handlebars as a grip for his weak arms. "I'm gonna go see if Rally's got any more of that ointment… I'll see you at dinner, Ben."

I raise my hand in goodbye as he limps back toward the entrance and disappears into the darkness of the stairwell, his shuffling footsteps echoing until finally they fade away. Glancing around the platform area, I can't help but notice just how… eerie this area is when you're alone; I understand why Yusei and Rally built that tent monstrosity rather than rough it in the open.

Again I find my gaze being drawn up toward that blinking red and white star, now flashing and pulsating like a flame in the purpling sky. Down here, the shadows are starting to close in, dark fingers reaching out to consume everything around me in dusk. A chill runs down my spine, and suddenly I hear a voice whisper in the back of my mind…

"_Shadow Game…_"

My head whips around, spinning like a tornado as I search for the source of the voice, but I only find myself isolated among a growing army of shadows.

"Shadow Game, huh…" I repeat, tossing the word around in my mind as I try and get some sort of read on what it means, or how it might relate to me. As usual, no such luck. Finally, I shake my head in defeat, hoping I'll one day win the war for my memories.

My stomach rumbles ravenously, suddenly reminding me of the fact that I haven't eaten since breakfast, skipping lunch while I was out trying to rescue Blitz. I start toward the shadow-cloaked staircase, wondering whether or not the others had found a good enough rock to bust open the dinner cans with. Rubble crunches under my feet as I cross the platform, the distinct feeling of being watched creeping up my back, though I shrug it off; everyone was up topside, and surely Yusei would have mentioned anyone wandering the tunnels.

Nonetheless, I feel increasingly relieved as I begin the climb up the dark stairway, darting in between the dim circles of bronze light as the platform gets further and further away, and the deep purple sky gets closer and closer.

* * *

"I've got the link set up, Yusei!" Rally's voice calls from the tent. "It's almost time!"

Night has fallen, drowning the underground in darkness. The only light comes from inside the tent, a dull bronze like the dying lamps that light up the stairway.

And inside—Rally sits at a computer, the same one that he warned me away from the other day, tapping away on the keyboard and doing intermittent clicks with the old mouse. It whirs and roars like an ancient animatronic dinosaur, occasionally shuddering and making me wonder if we should be standing so close to it.

Outside, Yusei's Duel Runner roars in response, the engine growling low and energetic, almost as if it's excited for the ride ahead. The sound echoes around the old tunnel, a trembling chorus that makes the walls seem to shake, a deep rumble that I can feel reverberating in my chest.

I shudder in anticipation, turning to the spiky-haired man who stands at the flap of the tent. "Time to go, Yusei?" I ask, walking over to him, partially in an attempt to get away from the explosion hazard.

"Time to go," he confirms, looking me over again. "Everyone's already said their goodbyes, and I've got a really short window of time."

"Good luck, Yusei," I say, sticking out my hand.

He grasps mine, and we give each other a firm handshake. We look at one another for a moment, and finally he says, "Look out for Rally for me. Until you leave."

I give him a nod. "Next time we see each other, it'll be in the City," I say.

"I'll be looking forward to it. I want to see those Heroes of yours firsthand," he replies, turning his back to me and heading towards the opening. "Be seeing you."

As he exits the tent, we all pour out onto the dark platform, the outline of his Duel Runner barely visible in the night. Finally, his headlight kicks on and he revs up the engine, filling the tunnel with the angry roar of a dragon as he takes off, the tires kicking up sparks as they strike against long-disused rails.

He speeds off into the tunnel toward the west, the pale headlight disappearing off into the darkness.

Rally hurries us all back inside, plopping down eagerly on a beaten-up old wooden stool in front of the desktop and staring at the screen. "Guys, come on! We've gotta watch!"

The screen, which only showed a sign-in screen the first time I saw it, now displays a large grayscale map of the areas around us. Rally points out our position, a very basic outline of the subway's entrance, and moves his finger a few inches to his right to a fast-moving blue dot. Blitz and Tank stare at it for a moment.

"That's Yusei, isn't it?" I ask, watching the dot twist and turn and take corners, the map scrolling the further away from us he moves. What else around here could be going that fast?

"That's right! Before he left, we put a tracker on his Runner so that we could follow it with the computer," Rally replies, his eyes practically glued to the old monitor.

We all stand around the computer for what seems like hours. Nervin's eyes settle on a counting clock in the corner of the screen. Blitz's brow is beaded with sweat. Tank's stomach rumbles.

All of us stay silent, our hearts beating in our throats. Yusei's dot crosses a bridge, into the outline of what appears to be some great complex.

"He's in!" Rally shouts ecstatically. "He's almost there!"

"So, what exactly is he doing?" I inquire as the blip pulsates with blue light, worming its way through a maze of obstacles.

"That's the Pipeline he's going for," Nervin explains, unblinking. "It's a massive chute that transports all the garbage from the City to here… once a month, they shut it down for maintenance. Once he's in, he'll have three minutes to get through, or…"

The threat hangs in the air without the need for completion. If he doesn't get through… he'll be trashed.

"And I'm guessing I'll have to go through there when it's my time to leave," I deduce.

"For lack of a better alternative," Blitz nods, dabbing at his forehead with an old handkerchief.

We spend about ten more minutes discussing the Pipeline—then a new blip appears on the screen, this one red, and coming after Yusei at a quick pace.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing at the new dot. I'm not sure I like the looks of it.

"Uninvited guest," Nervin grumbles.

"Sector Security," Rally clarifies, pounding a small fist on the old desk. "It's gotta be—they're the only ones that can match the speed of a Duel Runner around here."

We watch the chase as Yusei turns into a long corridor… no, he's in—he's in the Pipeline! Yusei barrels down the enormous pipe, the red dot in hot pursuit. They battle for position, the red dot sometimes closing, Yusei sometimes pulling far enough ahead. But one thing's for sure…

Yusei's slowed down. My eyes glance between the chase and the clock, my heart beating every other second as the timer ticks down. Three minutes turns to two. Two minutes to one. One minute to thirty seconds… twenty-nine, twenty-eight…

Fifteen… Yusei's pulling ahead again. His speed is picking up.

Ten… the red dot stopped?! It disappears as the screen rolls over it, Yusei darting forward.

Five… is that… the end of the tunnel is in sight! We can see where it ends, he's almost there!

Four. Three. Two…

"HE'S THROUGH!"

Tank lets out a wild whoop as Blitz begins dancing, wincing in pain every time he moves. Nervin throws his arms up and grins, while I pull Rally in for a bear hug and spin him around, his short legs dangling off the ground as he laughs.

* * *

_Later that night…_

Silence falls over the tunnel once more. After the excitement died down, Tank and the rest made their exit, leaving Ben and Rally to the tent. Perhaps due to missing Yusei, rather than sleeping on the lumpy old mattress, Rally took Yusei's spot on the lumpy old chair. Both are fast asleep, with Rally eliciting soft snores as he lays curled up in the chair.

The computer screen has returned to the log-in screen, now dimmed as it prepares to go to sleep as well. Inside the tent, it's just bright enough to see the figure standing over Ben…

"_Come on, Ben, can't you hear me?!" _the figure says, prodding a gloved finger against the sleeping teen. _"Wake up! Listen to me!"_

"_Easy, Shining,"_ comes another voice as a second figure appears. It's tall and broad-shouldered, with what appear to be flames leaping about on its shoulders, orange and red, twisting and dancing in the dark tent, though they put off no light. _"He's been gone a long time. It might take a while before he can connect with us again."_

"_Nova's right," _agrees a third voice, rumbling like an earthquake as an absolute behemoth appears in front of ben, squatting in such a way that it looks like a massive boulder. _"He knows us, but he doesn't remember us. The memory is there, but… it's locked away. I saw as much in his eyes when he summoned me."_

The one called Shining exhales a deep sigh, a puff of light briefly flashing through the room. It sits down on the floor, placing an arm on the sleeping form of Ben, digging its elbow into his side; his face twists in slight discomfort—can he feel it?

"_Has anyone been able to contact the leader?"_ rumbles the boulder-looking fellow. _"I cannot sense him."_

"_No such luck," _Nova replies. _"I've been trying to reach him ever since Ben woke up, but… he's nowhere to be found. He must not be in Ben's deck."_

"_Where could he be then?"_ Shining questions, but to no answer.

The boulder-looking dude harrumphs, looking down on the boy he's served faithfully for so long. _"We have our orders. Watch over Ben, guide him when we can… maybe this time things will turn out differently."_

"_H-hey! He's waking up!" _Shining says, moving to its knees to look at the slowly awakening Ben.

"Somebody… there?" Ben mutters sleepily, blinking away the bleariness from his eyes. He lifts his head, barely, and glances around the room.

"_Ben! Can you see us?" / "Can you see us, Young Master?" / "Hey, lazybones."_

"…Guess not," Ben says quietly, laying his head back down and drifting off to sleep once more.

Shining drops to the floor, crestfallen. Nova turns away. Boulder-looking guy stands up, his height reaching the very top of the tent.

"_I cannot say what is preventing us from reaching him, but it is no matter. We'll perform our duties, as we have all these years,"_ the boulder says with finality in his deep voice.

Nova nods. _"Let's let him have his sleep… we've waited this long for him, what's a little longer?"_

And so, the three figures disappear into the night, melting away as if they'd never even been there to start with.

And in his dreams, Ben hears voices… but he cannot make out what they say. They're familiar to him, however, voices he's heard many times.

"…Shadow… Game…"

* * *

**AND THERE WE HAVE IT, WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!**

**I sincerely apologize for how long I've taken to actually get this up. As I said in the author's note I posted, the Satellite portion of the story is a bit tedious for me, but hopefully we won't be too much longer in it. **

**I'm a little out of practice in writing, I'll admit, so I hope that this chapter was acceptable for you all. No duel, but I was on the edge about whether or not to show Yusei vs Trudge since the gang would have no way to see it. I really hope that you guys enjoyed this one, but I can promise that things will be better from here on out. **

**So! This chapter, we see Yusei leave the Satellite, like our boy hopefully will soon enough. Blitz gets home safe, a lot of banter, and Yusei takes off while Trudge gets left in the Pipeline. And… what's this Shadow Game business, and who are the three figures who watch Ben sleep? …Well, we all know who those three are, but who is their "leader"? I mean, we kind of know that too, but just play along peeps. **

**Anyway, I don't intent for my next absence to take so long, though I will say that while I **_**might**_** have a new chapter out before Christmas, I wouldn't count on it. I have final exams this week, and then a fairly busy schedule for a little while. Nonetheless, I can't express how much I appreciate the fact that you all have stuck with the story in this long absence, and I swear on my honor as a Stark* that things are looking up from here on.**

**Anyways, rather than keep rambling, allow me to say,**

**Take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, and if I don't see you until then, happy general holidays so that I can't be picked on for singling specific ones out because it's 2019!**

**~Chase**

**P.S. Not sure if any of y'all are the praying kind, but if you are, please say one for my dog. She's an old bat, I've had her for a long time but she's been a bit sick lately. Taking her to the vet soon to see what's wrong, hoping she'll be okay but because of her age I'm a lot more worried than I normally would be. Thanks guys, y'all are the best**

***I'm not actually a Stark, but nonetheless I like to think I have the honor of one.**


	6. Chapter 6: The First Ride - Part 1

**Chapter 6: The First Ride – Part 1**

* * *

After Yusei leaves us, the days seem to get shorter, time flying by quicker and quicker. There's constant worry etched in Rally's face, and the others spend more time at work. And the quiet left behind by the lack of engines revving in the tunnel… it's almost unnerving in the early morning.

A week passes, and then a second with little excitement to separate the two. My Duel Runner sits in the same spot when our friend rode off, unused, and the rebuilding process stuck at a standstill due to our inability to find a CPU for it. Although, with the void left by Yusei's absence, as helpful as they have been, I can't say whether or not anyone has been looking too hard for it.

Another midday comes upon us, bright yellow sunbeams flooding down from the crevice overhead and filling the dark subway with a comforting golden light. Having been stuck in the subway all day while Rally went off to do something private, due to my still questionable knowledge of the area I've had nothing better to do than stare into the shadows on either end of the tunnel, or watch the aging paint peel on the cracking concrete walls. A few more bits of debris fell from the crevice up above fell today than usual, but aside from that little else has happened of note.

So when Rally comes bounding down the stairs, a secretive grin on his face, needless to say I'm unable to keep from grinning myself. I didn't know when to expect him back, but I had been preparing our lunch rations in case he would be back soon.

The one good thing about Yusei being gone—I get a whole ration to myself now!

"Ben, Ben guess what!" Rally says happily, his hands held behind his back as he bounces up and down on his feet like a little rabbit.

"Calm down dude, sit down and have some lunch," I suggest, handing him the plastic-wrapped sandwich. "Looks like it's roast beef today. Doesn't even smell too bad."

He leans forward and bites onto the offered sandwich, tossing it to the ground with his mouth like an animal. Thank goodness for the cellophane wrapping, or else it would be ruined, and I've waited too long to not have to share my lunch now.

"There's no time for lunch, Ben! Not until you see what I found you!" he insists, his smile a bright beam that seems like it could light up the subway tunnels, driving away the shadows as we followed them far into the earth.

I can't help but laugh a little bit. This is the happiest I've seen him since Yusei left. "Alright, alright. What did you find me?" I ask, admittedly a bit curious to see what has him so worked up.

Another furtive grin comes across his face. "This is our secret, okay Ben? You can't tell anybody about it," he says, moving one hand out from behind his back and sticking out his pinkie. "Swear on it."

My pinkie finger wraps around his, a large size discrepancy between the two as we shake hands. "I swear. Now what's up?"

Rally's other hand darts out from behind his back, his palm flat and facing upward as he presents me with a small, shiny square object. He holds it gingerly, as if he worries that it might break with the slightest wrong move.

"…More gum wrappers?" I ask, not quite sure what I'm seeing at first.

"Yes—wait, no! No, it's a CPU! _The_ CPU that's going to get you to the City!" Rally says, grinning proudly at me and thrusting it into my hands. "Come on, let's go get it installed!"

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

My eyes widen in shock and the sandwich I had been planning to eat slips from my hands, breadcrumbs scattering all over and mixing with rubble. "My sandwich…" I complain, though as I stare at the metallic item in my hands, my complaint sounds weak and half-hearted at best.

Without a word, Rally dashes into the tent and returns with a box full of Yusei's old tools, which seems to be almost too big for him. Rusted metal clinks together as he trots along at a good pace despite the fact that the toolbox is larger than his head. He sets it on the ground in front of my Duel Runner with a sigh of relief, and beams at me again and starts waving me over.

I don't even spare my ruined lunch a second glance as I stroll on over, Rally's impatience growing with every easy step I take. I hold onto the CPU gently as I walk, carrying it as gingerly as if it were a puppy, worried that I might break it if I touch it in just the wrong way.

When I reach the Duel Runner, Rally already has the side panel popped off to expose the jungle of circuitry and rusted metal, all bunched around one spot, small and square and just the right size for the piece of metal I hold in my hands.

"You know how to install one of these, right?" I ask, looking at Rally as we crouch down. He holds the corroded old flashlight, the beam shining into the bowels of my machine.

"Yes. No. Sort of," Rally says, a bit sheepish. "Can you, uh… repeat the question?"

Feeling significantly less confident about this than I had been, I repeat my question, asking if he knew how to install a CPU from watching Yusei. Looking in further, I'm able to see that the slot for the CPU is raised up a bit higher than the rest, with indentations running along it that seem to fit with ridges on the inside of the item itself.

"Yeah… I kind of know how to do it. There's a bit of technical stuff that involves the computer that you'll have to do once the CPU is hooked up, but…" he trails off a bit. "It's not too hard. Or, it shouldn't be. Yusei's Runner is built off a different frame than this, so it might be a little different."

And as it turned out, it was a little more than a little different. As the day goes on, "shouldn't be too hard" turns into, "this is harder than I thought…" and eventually, "why is this so hard?!" But we're able to get it done. The diagnostics part—the computer work that Rally had mentioned—isn't near as difficult as he made it out to be.

Though it takes several hours more than we had expected, some time before the others arrive for dinner, Rally and I finish. The engine roars to life, sputtering at first before it grows to a healthy growl, a bit weaker than Yusei's had been, but of course that is to be expected.

I mount the Duel Runner once more, like I did the day we brought it home. Beneath the springy seat, I can feel the old machinery rumbling and whirring like the heartbeat and breathing of some ancient beast, echoing throughout the tunnel at an deafening pitch, reverberating off the cement walls and causing my very bones to quiver.

A grin crosses my face. "Damn. This is… nice," I say, for lack of a better word as I grip onto the handlebars. A small slot holds my Duel Disk, with the dusty screen being a display for Turbo Dueling. I'll admit—the thought of Turbo Dueling doesn't rouse me quite as much as Rally and the rest likely expect; card games on motorcycles do not appeal to me so much.

_I can get to the City now_, I think, trying to place the day. My grin falls somewhat as I realize that I have another two weeks before the Pipeline will be open again.

Rally beams at me, standing beside me and looking up, now so much shorter than me. Above the thundering calls of the engine, he yells, "Take… for… ride!"

"What?" I shout back, my voice rising.

"Take… for… ride!" he repeats, his words still partially drowned out. "Highway… North! Up the stairs!"

Unable to understand what he is saying, I turn off the engine and allow him to give me the instructions once more.

* * *

The Duel Runner bursts into the sunlight, the old beast's howl cutting through the air as it embraces freedom for the first time since it has been repaired. The tires squeal as I drift slightly, turning right and tearing off down the road. Wind rushes past me, whipping my hair and buffeting my face as it skirls around the speeding machine.

Though I'm moving at a fast enough speed that I can't say for sure, I could swear I pass by Blitz and the others on their way back from work. I like to imagine that it was indeed them, and they began to cheer as I tore past.

I weave my way north through the labyrinth of dilapidated buildings and scrap heaps, using an unexpected map tool installed on the Duel Runner to guide me to the "old highway" Rally had mentioned. I'm not proud of how many times I had to turn around, stop short, or take a longer route—and as such, I won't count them here, but know that it was more than someone with a GPS should. Much more.

But finally, I reach the turn onto the old highway—a long stretch of asphalt that rises up into the sky over the crumbling ruins of the city, supported by old cement beams that were placed long ago and edged by rusted guard rails, some of which disappeared entirely long ago.

And yet, despite the questionable state the highway is in, it's…

"Perfect."

I exhale, letting the bike idle underneath me as I look up into the sky overhead. Blue changes to purple and orange as the sun begins its descent, the clouds gone off to bed as stars start to blink overhead in the east like tiny jewels sparkling—and that same red star is there, pulsating in its orbit.

I urge my Duel Runner onto the highway, finding that despite its age it is decently sound. At the very least, there's no noticeable pitfalls or mass amounts of debris, and no sharp things that might pop a tire and cause me to spin out. The turn curves like a snake as it joins onto the road, so I take it easy until I reach the highway itself, flat and wide, with four lanes barely marked by faded white lines. I can't help but wonder how busy this thoroughfare must have been long ago, before whatever disaster caused this ruin.

Ahead of me, the old road lays out far into the distance, curving off before it would cut through a building. I grin, and rev my Runner, allowing the sudden burst of speed to take my worries away for a bit. As I travel over the ruined path, a certain weightless sensation overcomes me, and I start to follow the track ahead without even thinking of it. Is this what it feels like to ride a bicycle? I wish I remembered.

I drift lazily between sides of the road; with no incoming traffic, I don't feel the need to follow any particular traffic laws. I start to wonder if anyone else in the Satellite has working Duel Runners aside from myself and Yusei when he was still here, when I hear the screeching of wheels behind me.

_Company, huh?_ I think, looking over my shoulder to try and spot the oncoming vehicle. I can see the shape approaching, sleek, gray and blue and white with something mounted on the front… oh God, is that a siren?

Yep, it's a siren. I hear the wail of it as it draws near, just barely audible over the roar of my own engine. Something in me advises me to gun it, and I do, pulling far ahead of the pursuing bike. I get the sudden feeling that I'm not supposed to be here, let alone be on a Duel Runner.

Rounding the curve, the other bike falls behind and out of sight. I want to relax and ease up on the engine, but something tells me that I need to keep going.

Soon, however, I hear a robotic voice say, just above my engine, "Autopilot engaged. Activating Speed World…"

And then, the world is covered in purple, and a stern male voice yells out, "Caught you, Satellite scum! Pull over at once!"

* * *

**HEEEELLO EVERYBODY! It's, uh… ben some time. Heh. **_**Ben**_** some time.**

…**I apologize for that pun. And for my absence. Not going to go into specifics, but to those of you who remember how in the last chapter I mentioned my childhood dog quit eating, she wound up passing away and it messed me up a lot more than it should have. I couldn't find it in me to write, but I willed myself through this one.**

**I'm not going to take up too much time for this Author's Note. Again, wanted to apologize for my repeated absences, I'm hoping that this will be the end of it for now. Sorry that this is a bit of a short chapter, but I wanted to get something out to make sure you all knew that neither I nor this story are dead. Next chapter—turbo duel! See you all soon.**

**As always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~**

**~Chase**


	7. Chapter 7: The First Ride - Part 2

**Chapter 7: The First Ride – Part 2**

* * *

Over the roar of my engine, I hear the words, "Autopilot, engaged. Activating Speed World," and around me, the world begins to resemble a miniature city that has been splashed with a coat of purple paint. Purple wraps around the buildings, snakes its way through the winding streets below, fills the sky and blocks out the sun and clouds.

"It's over, Satellite scum! You can't run anymore!" the officer yells out, his voice seeming to come through a speaker near the console of my Duel Runner. "Surrender and come quietly!"

I can hear the whir of his engine several yards back, a high-pitched whining noise that seems… more annoying than anything, really. Looking back over my shoulder, I can see him quickly gaining, the siren on the front of his vehicle flashing red and blue. I can't see much of the man himself; a white helmet with a gray visor covers his head and shields his eyes from the sun and from my view.

I attempt to rev my bike further, to try and pull ahead. My eyes dart back and forth searching for some sort of turn that I can take that may throw him off, but every time I see some side road that looks even remotely interesting and I try to turn, I feel my Duel Runner being steered back onto course.

"Didn't I just tell you that you can't run anymore?!" shouts the officer, a bit of annoyance in his voice. "My Security Runner has forced you into Turbo Duel mode—your autopilot is on, and you're stuck on this track!"

It takes a few moments for me to fully understand his words; a Turbo Duel, right… that's that… thing. I bite my lip as I realize that _I don't actually know what a Turbo Duel is._

_Great._

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

Before I even realize what's fully happening, the dusty old screen on the Duel Runner's console flares to life, the colors a gaudy jumble of pinks and greens and yellows as the map screen disappears, a clear indicator at how… "lightly used" the machine probably was. From its spot in front of said screen, the tarnished orb on my Duel Disk blooms a brighter blue than usual as the cards shuffle themselves, and once more spit out five cards. I take them in hand, a bit annoyed at being forced into a Duel.

_Forced into a Duel… that's become a recurring theme since I came to the Satellite, hasn't it?_ my inner thoughts state in an amused tone.

"**DUEL!"**

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Sector Security Officer: 4000 LP**_

The deck slot bestows one more card upon me—I suppose this means that I get the first move. However, further examining the console screen, after the tacky garden of colors disperses, I see a bit more than just Life Points as expected in a Duel.

I'm blessed with the layout of the field, which lays empty for now, as well as a rudimentary map that shows what's directly ahead or behind but not much else. In addition, on either side of the field, one on my side and one on his, there exists an oblong shape, pale gray, with several small holes of a darker gray set in two rows on it.

A sense of euphoria runs through me. Wind rushes all around me, blowing out the tangles in my hair as the machine speeds down the old highway. Something about this all feels… right. So many things have felt right to my empty mind—and all of them have had something to do with Duel Monsters.

Before I have time to ponder this thought any further, the officer shouts at me. "Hurry up and make your move! You do know how to Turbo Duel, don't you?!"

On both oblong shapes, the first dark gray hole becomes filled with a white dot. My Duel Runner seems to accelerate of its own accord then, as does his own, placing us more or less neck-and-neck with one another.

_**Ben's Speed Counters: 1 / Officer's Speed Counters: 1**_

I take a moment to examine my hand, not dignifying the officer's harassment with a response. At first glance, it all appears to be a typical Hand: mainly monsters, with Hero Barrier and a… Speed Spell? …Yes, it's Miracle Fusion, the Speed Spell I found after I first met Rally. But, I can't help but wonder what makes it different from a regular Miracle Fusion—and why it's called a Spell and not a Magic card.

Hesitantly, I pick one of my typical starting moves. I fully release the handlebars then, my hands shaking somewhat as I place my trust in the ability of my autopilot. Without my own guidance, the machine seems unsteady at first, rattling and swerving a little and causing my heart to jump into my throat each time it moves in even the slightest wrong way.

"Take the field, Elemental Hero Woodsman!" I call out, my voice sounding triumphant above the wind despite the pit of nervousness my Duel Runner is making in my stomach.

Rather than in front of me like in a normal Duel, Woodsman appears at my side this time, between my Duel Runner and the officer's, seeming to be frozen mid-jump as he keeps up with my speed. Every now and then, one of his legs will touch some bit of invisible "ground" and once more he'll make another great bound to match my pace.

"Next, I'll activate the effect of Elemental Hero Forg—huh?" I stop myself mid-sentence, Elemental Hero Forger in hand. As I attempt to activate his effect, however, a large red X flashes on the beat-up old display. Despite this, I start slipping the card into the Graveyard slot on my Duel Disk, but the card spits back out almost immediately.

"Well, uh… guess not… then I'll set a card facedown and end my turn there," I say, my confusion as clear as if it were painted on my face.

I soon hear the mocking laughter of the officer coming through the speaker. "What's the matter kid, never Turbo Dueled before? Can't figure out what you need to do?" he taunts.

_**Ben's SC: 2 / Officer's SC: 2**_

A second white dot fills a gray circle as the officer draws a card. "This will slow you down! I summon the monster Gate Blocker—in Defense Mode!" he states. The screen shows his card being placed on the field and gives me a view of the monster's stats as the creature appears out of a green portal. "With Gate Blocker on the field, you won't gain Speed Counters each turn! You're stuck at 2!"

I've never seen any monster like this before, though given my lack of memory, this likely isn't news to any of you. It has the appearance of a tall rectangular slab of stone or concrete, with a single red eye in the center of it. Most of its body is some shade of blue-green, though a thin line of orange runs up through the center, encompassing the eye. As it comes to the field, however, it becomes covered in a shade of purple similar to the world around us. **(Gate Blocker: Level 4, EARTH, Rock-type; 100 ATK/2000 DEF)**

However, the moment I get a good view of that monster, specifically that single staring eye, a sharp jolt of pain runs through my head, not unlike when I first dueled Rally. I squeeze my eyes shut in response, gasping in shock as I become very glad for the autopilot on my Duel Runner. My hands clench into fists, nails digging into my palms until I can almost feel the skin breaking beneath, and then the memory comes, foggy, but… it's something.

_A winding road. A massive chunk of gray rock, with jagged edges and an angry face… I see it looming overhead, and pass underneath it, and hear it thud down behind me. And then… laughter. Not the cold, cruel laughter that I remembered for… as long as I can remember, but warm laughter, the kind one might elicit around friends. But wait—moments later, as the wind around me rushes through my hair, it evokes the sensation of someone playing with my hair… gently, lovingly._

Tears swell in my eyes, a few stray beads leaking down my cheeks and leaving a shining trail as I rapidly blink to rid myself of them.

"What, you gonna cry now?" says the officer. "I haven't even done anything yet! They'll eat you up at the Facility!"

I don't respond, overcome with strong emotion that I cannot place one way or the other. It's equal parts sorrow and joy, warmth and despair, all topped off with a nice helping of loneliness that bites down to the core. It's… almost like homesickness, feeling that you don't belong.

The laugh remains in the back of my mind, urging me on as we speed down the old highway.

"Silence won't save you in front of the judge, kid. Go ahead, make your move!" the officer states. The monolithic slab floats alongside him motionlessly, though that one eye watches me, unblinking.

_**Ben's SC: 2 / Officer's SC: 3**_

"I draw!" I declare, pulling another card from the top of my deck. As I draw, I notice that on my side of the screen, the gray circle remains unchanged, but on his, he gains a third white dot, though I leave it be as I still do not understand the meaning.

I do notice, however, that as his third white dot blinked into existence, his Duel Runner picks up speed and passes me.

Looking down at my hand, I note the card that I drew—Elemental Hero Ocean… I should be able to do something with this. "I activate the effect of Elemental Hero Woodsman! During my Standby Phase, I can add Polymerization from my Deck to my Hand!"

Expecting to see the card pop from the deck slot like it always does when the effect activates, I feel myself diving deeper into confusion upon seeing that it has not done so.

The officer laughs. "Kid, haven't you realized? You can't play regular Spell Cards! The Turbo Duel system won't let you get Polymerization!"

My eyes widen as the realization dawns on me. Speed Spells. Couldn't use Forger's effect to find an Equip card. And now, I can't use Woodsman to find Polymerization… what am I going to do? Drifting back to the day Rally found me, I recall a compartment on my Duel Disk containing the Speed Spell – Miracle Fusion, but I don't have that in hand now.

I take a look at the Speed Spell in my hand, which bears the image of a blond angel dressed in white, holding a ball of light in its hands. Examining it further, I can see that it mentions something called "Speed Counters," and I further connect the dots—specifically, the white dots that fill up the gray circles.

Pursing my lips and trying to work it all out in my head, I finally state, "I activate my Speed Spell – Angel Baton! It says here that when I have two or more Speed Counters, I can draw two cards, but then I have to discard one! …I think I have two Speed Counters," I add in a less certain voice.

My heart leaps when I see the second card—it is none other than Miracle Fusion, the card that will allow me to put my Fusion Deck to work! Taking a moment to look at my hand and decide who goes, I discard Forger to the Graveyard; after all, I can bring him back with Ocean if my need is great enough.

Feeling the triumphant grin come across my face, I call out, "I now activate my next Speed Spell – Miracle Fusion!"

I place the card onto my Duel Disk—or I try to, as I'm soon met with the same red X flashing upon the screen. I try two more times before I read the card and realize that I need _three_ of those Speed Counters, and realizing further that I'm making a fool of myself in what may or may not be my first Turbo Duel.

"Well… I suppose I can't do that, then…" I say sheepishly as I return it to my Hand—worst of all, now he knows that I have Miracle Fusion. Whether or not he knows what it does, or if it bothers him, I can't say. "In that case, I'll summon my Elemental Hero Ocean in Attack Mode!"

He leaps out of the green portal with a somersault, seeming to be dripping with seawater as he lands beside Woodsman, joining in stride with the half-tree. His skin is blue, and covered in what looks quite a bit like scales that shimmer purple in the purple sun. Two sharp yellow eyes stare out of a blank face, with a long blue fin like a shark's extends from his head. In his muscular arms, he carries a long staff weapon that resembles a trident, but with two curved prongs instead of three. As he starts to keep pace with Woodsman, he switches to carrying his weapon with one hand. **(Elemental Hero Ocean: Level 4, WATER, Warrior-type; 1500 ATK/1200 DEF)**

"Summon all you want, kid! You can't do anything with those puny monsters," says the officer, "and you can't play your Miracle Fusion either, because Gate Blocker prevents you from gaining Speed Counters!"

Refusing to look at the officer, my eyes fall upon my monsters, knowing full well that they on their own do not have the strength to overcome the rock. On their own, my Heroes aren't heavy hitters, their strength lying in their Fusions, and their ability to get them out fast.

But, is that really an advantage when I can't play the magic cards that summon them?

"I really don't have anything else to do, so… I'll end my turn," I say.

_**Ben's SC: 2 / Officer's SC: 4**_

The officer draws another card, and summons a second Gate Blocker, which falls into line beside his own as he pulls further and further ahead of me, so far away that as the wind rushes around us I can no longer hear his voice on its own, rather I need the speakers on my machine to hear his annoying, ceaseless taunts.

In addition to Gate Blocker, he sets a face-down card. He seems awfully smug about it as he ends his turn. "And when I've caught you, I'll find out _all_ about where you Satellites are getting your Duel Runners from! I'll put that idiot Trudge to shame…"

Defiantly, I yell back, "How can you catch me if you can't damage me?"

Over the wind, I can practically _hear_ that damn smirk cross his face. He doesn't even say anything, but I can feel a sensation of pure arrogance streaming back at me from beneath his helmet.

"I draw!" I declared, placing my hand on top of my deck and attempting to channel some sort of energy from my hand into my cards, to try and draw exactly what I needed to get out of this situation… and with a flourish, I draw Elemental Hero Heat! Seems to me that things are beginning to look up for me—with the boost he gets from having Woodsman and Ocean on the field, he'll be able to take down those Gate Blockers with ease!

The Speed Counters update once more, placing the officer at 5, but this time rather than letting me go on with his turn, he flips up his facedown card.

"Before I let you get any further—I activate my continuous trap card, Speed Edge! Now, during each Standby Phase, as long as I have more Speed Counters than you do, you'll be taking damage equal to the difference times 300! And right now the difference is three, so you'll be taking 900 points of damage!"

A sharp jolt of electricity, different from the one that signifies a recovered memory, runs through me as my Duel Runner shakes roughly. For a moment, I worry that it is about to fall apart, and I tighten the grip my legs have on it.

_**Ben: 3100 LP , 2 SC / Officer: 4000 LP , 5 SC**_

I bite down on my tongue hard as the Duel Runner, shaken from the electrical burst, bumps over a pothole, and I feel the iron taste of blood in my mouth. I spit into the wind and pay it no more mind as I begin to plan ahead for my victory… starting with my next move!

"We're getting into the home stretch now, I summon Elemental Hero Heat in attack mode!"

The green portal opens up with a burst of flames, as if a round of fireworks were shot out of it when it opened. Blazing like only a man of fire could, Heat—both the monster Heat and the sensation of heat—come roaring forth as flames ripple off of his body. He strikes a pose as he takes his place beside me, punching the air with enough force to send a burning shockwave through the air. **(Elemental Hero Heat: Level 4, FIRE, Pyro-type; 1600 ATK/1200 DEF)**

"1600 ATK? Haven't you realized that my Gate Blockers have 2000 DEF each, or can you Satellites not do math either?" the officer taunts, his abnormally large mouth apparently aware of Miracle Fusion's Speed Counter requirements, but not aware of Heat's boosting effect.

"Clearly you don't know about Heat's ability! With every face-up Elemental Hero I control, including himself, his ATK gets upped by 200!" **(Elemental Hero Heat: 2200 ATK)**

The officer's mocking falters for a moment, but only briefly. "Not that it matters—with Speed Edge still on the field, your next turn will be your last! Even if you can destroy one Gate Blocker, the other will still prevent you from gaining Speed Counters!"

That is true—but at the same time, I got one perfect draw, what's to say I can't get another? I just need something that will close the gap on Speed Counters, or get Speed Edge off the field, or let me deliver 4000 points of damage straight to his smug face… well, that might not be so easy after all, but still! My Duel Runner seems to roar in delight from beneath me, or else the engine is just that close to its last legs and I'm trying to impose my own need for encouragement on an inanimate object, but that's not important right now.

What is important, is Heat's attack! "Go on, Heat! Crush through that Gate Blocker with Flare Blitz!" I call out, throwing my hand out like a general giving a command to his subordinate, and at once Heat lunges forward, flames surrounding him like the tail of a comet as he closes the distance between my Duel Runner and the officer's. The massive slab of Gate Blocker sets its singular eye on the fireball just in time for a white hot fist to smash into it, shattering it to bits that scatter invisibly into the wind before my Hero returns to my side, standing beside Ocean.

"And with that, I'll end my turn there!"

"Then I'll draw—and begin preparations for arrest!" says the guard, his voice making him sound certain that he's won. But he hasn't—not yet!

_**Ben's SC: 2 / Officer's SC: 6**_

Another shock rocks the Duel Runner, this one stronger than before as the disparity between Speed Counters climbs higher and higher. More damage comes my way, and it doesn't seem to be doing the Duel Runner much good. I grit my teeth, already dreading what more work might need to be done after all this…

_**Ben: 1900 LP / Officer: 4000 LP**_

"I'll summon my Search Striker in attack position!" he decrees, and I soon see the card appearing on my screen as the familiar portal opens up once more.

The creature that comes through looks… an awful lot like what one might expect a robot would look like if it joined the police force. A metal helmet covers its head, with two beady greenish eyes peering ahead, searching for its quarry. Over its probably metallic body, it wears a long navy blue coat that covers up most of its being, tied down with a silver belt and covered in all sorts of machinery. On either shoulder, a round black shape not unlike a satellite dish juts out, with all sorts of wiring and circuitry crisscrossing its back until tucking into a metal device like a backpack. And on either arm—I would have thought they _were_ its arms, had I not seen two tiny hands grasping at the triggers—are two long rifles. It seems to be skating through the air as it moves alongside its master, swift and sleek and deadly. **(Search Striker: Level 4, WIND, Warrior-type; 1600 ATK/1200 DEF)**

"I might not be able to take on Elemental Hero Heat, but I can douse his flames a bit! Search Striker, take aim and fire upon his Woodsman!" the officer orders.

Search Striker swivels around, turning to face my monsters and I. He raises his rifle arms and levels them at Woodsman, and I can hear the _boom!_ as he fires. If this would impact, it would bring my life points down to a range where next turn would see them wiped out by Speed Edge… but then I remember my set Hero Barrier.

Feeling a sudden surge of confidence, I yell out, "Stop right there! I activate Hero Barrier, to negate your attack! Woodsman remains on the field, and Heat remains strong enough to crush your last Gate Blocker."

"Grr… keep fighting all you want, but you won't be able to evade arrest much longer! On my next turn, Speed Edge will take out your life points and I'll be taking you in for questioning!" he growls, ending his turn.

"I wouldn't count on that! I draw!"

_**Ben's SC: 2 / Officer's SC: 7**_

After drawing my next card, which is the Speed Spell called Overboost, once again my Duel Runner is tossed about by the electrical shock of Speed Edge, which throws me with such a force that I swear I see a bit of the body come off and fall behind. When I try to look behind, though, I can see nothing but the road speeding away behind me. Looking forward, once again the officer is getting further away.

_**Ben: 400 LP / Officer: 4000 LP**_

Reading the text of Overboost, I can't help the grin that comes across my face; running through a bit of quick math, I realize that my victory is finally at hand.

"First off—I'll activate my Speed Spell – Overboost!" I can hear the shock in his voice as he gasps. "When I activate this card, I gain six Speed Counters, but at the end of my turn it gets reduced to one."

_**Ben's SC: 8 / Officer's SC: 7**_

"And here comes the finisher—Speed Spell – Miracle Fusion! By removing those six Speed Counters I just gained, I can Fusion Summon an Elemental Hero by removing from play monsters from my side of the field or Graveyard," I say, proudly placing down the card I had attempted to play at the beginning of the duel. As I activate it, a part of me wants to fuse Woodsman and Ocean into a card… whose name I cannot remember… a wave of sadness runs through me as I realize that I cannot name it, and I feel as if I'm betraying an old friend. I overcome it, however, and continue with the play. "By fusing Elemental Hero Woodsman and Elemental Hero Forger, I can summon the card that will end this duel! Elemental Hero Gaia!"

Woodsman and Forger spin away into a vortex that opens up overhead, a swirling maelstrom of colors that flashes a rainbow of colors across the field.

_Let us win together, Ben!_ says a voice in my head, rumbling like an earthquake.

"Burying foes with the power of earth, the hero that has been hand-carved by Mother Nature herself bursts onto the scene! Rock on, Elemental Hero Gaia!"

Evoking the memory of that gray slab that I cannot place, the massive man of rock crushes onto the field with a slightly off-putting weightlessness as he lands. One would expect the world around us to shake, but my Duel Runner remains stable as his enormous feet stomp down onto the ground. **(Elemental Hero Gaia: Level 6, EARTH, Warrior-type; 2200 ATK/2600 DEF) (Elemental Hero Heat: 2200 ATK)**

"And thanks to his effect, your Search Striker will be getting cut down to size! By halving your monster's ATK, Gaia will gain that much ATK in return—putting your monster at 800, and Gaia at 3000!" **(Elemental Hero Gaia: 3000 ATK) (Search Striker: 800 ATK)**

"This scum is a cut above the rest…" I hear the officer say begrudgingly over the speakers.

"The compliment is much appreciated, officer. Now, let's get this over with! Gaia, crush his Striker with your Crushing Clay Fist!"

A savage blow that carries the power of the planet itself sails through the air and impacts the cyborg cop, sending it careening through the air before shattering into nothingness, the shockwave left from where the punch landed throwing the officer's Duel Runner violently.

_**Ben: 400 LP / Officer: 1800 LP**_

"Now, of course, Heat is going to smash through your last Gate Blocker, but there's one more thing to do! I activate my Quick-Play, the Speed Spell – Speed Energy!" I state, activating the second card I had drawn from Angel Baton's effect. "When I have two or more Speed Counters, I can choose one monster on my field and it gains 200 ATK for each counter I have, which means Ocean is going to be brought up to 1900 ATK!" **(Elemental Hero Ocean: 1900 ATK)**

As Heat's flaming fist smashes Gate Blocker to rubble, Ocean charges in through the debris with his weapon and swings it across the Sector Security officer's back; and this time, rather than getting tossed about the field, his Duel Runner stops abruptly, steam erupting from it.

_**Ben: 400 LP / Officer: 0 LP**_

"You won't get so lucky next time, Satellite!" I hear him shout as I leave him in the dust, the purple world fading back to its normal colors.

* * *

It's just after nightfall when I return to the subway at last, slowing way down as I make the bumpy ride down the steps. It's rough going, and while I go slow I can't say I'm too cautious, a bit of paranoia that I'm being followed by Security officers causing me to be a bit clumsy with my maneuvering. Here and there, a bit of cracked staircase becomes even more cracked as I charge down before finally coming to a rest on the platform.

The moment I put the Duel Runner in park, Rally and the others come rushing over from a burning campfire that sends smoke spiraling up toward the crack in the ceiling. Rally is the first to reach me, practically bowling me over as I climb off the machine.

"Ben, we were so worried about you!" he says, putting his arms around my waist and hugging me like a vise grip. "What took you so long?"

"And how come the Duel Runner is so beaten up?" asks Nervin, crouching beside my vehicle and looking over it with the amber glow of that old flashlight. "It looks like it's been through a warzone…"

"I had a run-in with Sector Security," I say, taking a deep gulp of air as I gently pry myself free of the powerful arms of Rally Dawson. "But I won… left him behind somewhere on that old highway."

The mere mention of Sector Security causes my friends to freeze, each of their eyes turning to me, wide like animals caught in the headlights of oncoming traffic. They bring me over to the fire where I'm given an old metal bowl that contains the contents of the night's can of meat, which I eat up greedily despite the less than appetizing taste and smell. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until they put it in front of me.

After recounting the tale of my defiance and daring escape from the clutches of that Sector Security officer, Nervin shakes his head. "Shouldn't be surprised… with Yusei getting through the Pipeline, there's no doubt going to be more of those Security creeps around. I'm glad you're okay though, Ben."

"Yeah, but those guys don't take too kindly to losing," points out Blitz. "Even if he got away this time… Ben, you need to be more cautious about taking your Duel Runner out. What if they follow you back here next time?"

I frown; I hadn't thought of that. "Then they'll consider you all my accomplices… and I don't want you guys to get in trouble," I say.

Silence settles between us again, before finally Rally speaks up. "Then… you can start running the tunnels, like Yusei did!" he says, looking at me from across the fire. The flames dance in his eyes, flickering and twisting. "You can't let this set you back too much, the day the Pipeline opens up will be on us soon enough!"

"And the damage from the duel… we'll need to get that hammered out before then," Tank agrees after a moment, nodding along with Rally's point.

"Yeah! Forget those goons, we've got to get you to the City!" Nervin echoes, pumping his fist in the air.

After a moment, Blitz gives a firm nod. "I know I said be careful… but that doesn't mean give up! We didn't go through all that crap with those thugs to get that Duel Runner for nothing!"

Setting the plate by my side, I give them all a broad grin. "Then… it looks like we've got some work ahead of us, huh guys?"

* * *

**AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE CALLING IT! Hopefully the wait wasn't too long for this chapter, I'm going to try and get back into uploading every other week for a bit, then hopefully getting into a weekly schedule. This was actually meant to be up last week, but I came down with the flu and wasn't able to finish it. **

**Anyways, not going to take up much time with this one either. I hope the duel made up for the shortness of the last chapter, as well as us getting to see another memory. I don't think it's difficult to tell what the memory comes from, so if you figure it out go ahead and put what you think in a review ;) but that just leads to more questions—who exactly is Ben, and where does he have this memory from? (Also I hope that Turbo Duel wasn't too terrible. I've never actually written a Turbo Duel in all my attempts at fanfic, so I'll admit I lack a bit of experience in that field).**

**So, to close as always,**

**Take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~!**

**~Chase**

**(Edit: Thank you, Time Thief, for pointing out the hanging sentence after Gate Blocker was summoned! I'm not sure how I missed that, but I appreciate you catching it for me! And while I won't confirm or deny any of your theories, I will say that everything will start to be revealed once he's out of the Facility ;) )**


	8. Chapter 8: Escape from the Satellite!

**Chapter 8: Escape from the Satellite!**

* * *

The engine of the Duel Runner roars up and down the tunnel like an ancient beast awakening from a long slumber. Light from the single headlight cuts through the endless dark as the wheels rumble over fallen debris and cracked bricks that once formed the subway tunnel that must have transported millions in its day. The yellow beam falls upon a large pillar of cement, broken and worn over the years, but still I can see that it widens into a fork in the path.

For a moment, I panic as I grip the handlebars, feeling the rubber grips dig into my palms as the divider rushes up on me, but then I remember Rally's voice in my head: _Left. When you get to the fifth fork, take a left, and it'll bring you right back to us!_

Easing my tight hold, I guide the machine to the left, admittedly cutting it a little closer than I would have liked to, but nonetheless making my way into the leftward tunnel without a problem. The air skirls around me as I increase my speed, brushing through my hair with soft, quick fingers… like the ones in that memory…

I tune out for a moment, letting the noise of my engine slice through the still underground air ahead of me as I allow the memory back into my mind.

_Someone playing with my hair… who could that be? _

Whenever I think about it, and I tend to think about it much more than I likely should, I like to imagine that it clues me into more than it does, but really all it can tell me is that there was someone in my past close enough to me that I allowed them to play with my hair. That could be any number of people, from a relative, to a barber, or… someone who was 'more than a friend,' perhaps? I doubt that someone would be simply a 'friend,' as even now I wouldn't let Rally or the others mess with my hair as such.

But that train of thought always just leads into more questions—how did I know this person? What exactly was their relationship to me? Were they a barber, and if they are where were they so that I could get this fantastic haircut once again? It's a never-ending cycle of questions that doesn't let up, continuing with a new thought the moment I think I might have some sort of answer.

Up ahead, I can see a faint glow lighting up some bricks around the next bend. I rev my engine loudly to signal my arrival, leaning forward as if it would actually help me increase my speed. Finally, I burst into the area that had served as my home for the past several weeks, riding up a small ramp onto the platform, and letting the Duel Runner idle beside the tent, the noise from the engine rumbling off the cement walls.

Rally comes rushing out, a bright grin on his face. His tattered old coat trails behind, and he's practically bouncing on the balls of his little feet with excitement.

"How'd I do, Rally? Did I get trashed?" I ask, finally turning off the Duel Runner. I can practically hear my heartbeat throbbing in my ears as the thunder of the engine dies off.

"Two minutes and thirty-eight seconds, Ben! You made it with twenty-two seconds to spare!" Rally exclaims, tossing his arms around my waist and latching onto me as I'm still seated on my vehicle. "Tonight's the night—are you ready?"

Again, the memories I've regained come to mind: the fingers brushing through my hair; the gray slab with the angry face, and the laughter of a friend; and the group of people all saying my name. The desire to find out their origins have brought me this far, but looking down at my little friend here makes me wonder, if only for a moment, if I should just stay here and eke out a living in the Satellite.

No… no, that would be a waste. All the help I've gotten from Rally, Yusei and the others, saving Blitz from those thugs, defeating that Sector Security officer in that Turbo Duel… I can't stop here. Plus, Yusei is waiting for me in the City—and something tells me that I don't like to keep people waiting.

I look down at my Duel Disk, eyes honing in on the deck slot. I feel a sense of calm washing over me, as if I were being cheered on by invisible allies who were trying to help me along the right path. I raise my head to look at Rally, and I give him a bright grin.

My arm wraps around Rally's shoulders and I pull him in for a side hug. "I've waited a month for this. I'm ready… it's my turn to shake things up in the City."

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

Two more times I run through the tunnel, shaving off a few extra seconds each time until I came down to a pretty comfortable time of two minutes and twenty seconds. Well, I say "comfortable" time, but considering I'll be tearing my way through a long, winding tunnel that may very well start dropping trash on me at any moment, I'm not so sure that any time more than thirty seconds will be particularly comfortable. And, of course, I could always run into some unwanted company, much like Yusei did… but he made it through somehow, which means so can I! Right?

Naturally, there's the chance that since one Satellite resident got through using the Pipeline, they've increased security this time around, and again there's the fact that I've already had a bit of a run-in with a Security officer, and so it's probably not uncommon knowledge that there's at least one other Duel Runner in the Satellite… it's issues like this that cause me to overthink things. I know I should calm down, yet, I can't simply toss out these possibilities. After all, what if I'm not even able to get into the facility that regulates the Pipeline?

I sigh heavily, staring down at the lumpy roast beef sandwich that came as Yusei's ration for the day; I still can't believe the City is still sending over food for him, even though it's been a month since he left. Maybe they haven't realized he's there yet? Perhaps that should give me a bit of hope that I can get through without being discovered…

The air of the tunnel is still around me, a bubble of light forming in the deep dark as I allow my Duel Runner's headlight to cast its glow upon the wall I sit against. My stomach had been going wild all day, worry tossing about inside me like a stormy sea, leaving me without much of an appetite until about four, when I decided to leave for another ride to eat my sandwich in total darkness.

Problem is, the total darkness and absolute silence of the subway tunnel scared the hell out of me, so I turned on my headlights and started eating. I removed my Duel Disk from the vehicle for whatever reason, setting it beside me, my deck slot facing me as I bite into the sandwich, choking down the funky-smelling meat.

After a moment, the light from my Duel Runner cuts out. Ice creeps up my spine, as it always does in absolute darkness; even though I know nothing out there is out to get me, I can't help but think that something around the next bend is trying to get a nice Roast Ben sandwich.

But then, just like it had in the dim building where I fought those thugs to save Blitz, an odd golden glow springs to life from my deck slot. This time, rather than leaving it where it was to use as a makeshift lantern, I lay my hand on it and take the top card of my deck—and I'm sure that if I could see my eyes, they would go wide upon viewing what I drew.

"Shapeshift…" I breathe softly, looking down at the card which shines like a star in the darkness. "You… I remember you…"

The card in question is called Elemental Hero Shapeshift, the artwork portraying a thin, gaunt man in a mostly yellow jumpsuit accented with blue on his arms and legs. I hold the card in my hands like a precious jewel, the memory slowly coming back to me…

_I designed the card myself… when I was a kid, I think. It was supposed to be fan-art to be submitted to a comic book publisher I really liked, but the mailing addresses got mixed up, and… Elemental Hero Shapeshift was born._

I press the card to my chest, squeezing my eyes shut as I review the memory over and over again. This time, no pain accompanied it, no jolt to my head that made me regret recalling it; the memory just appeared, making me wonder if it had ever really left in the first place.

Playful, nasally laughter meets my ears, seemingly out of nowhere. My eyes pop open and the card drops to my lap, the light now shining upon the ceiling and casting a massive shadow of my head, elongated by the curving walls of the tunnel. However, as I turn my head like an owl trying to find the source of the laugh, I don't feel threatened. It's somewhat of a comforting feeling… kind of like every time I imagine my Fusions responding to me… yeah, imagining things, of course…

Again I hear the laughter, bouncing around me from everywhere yet nowhere, as if someone in my head had told a joke and was now laughing at it because he thought himself just so hilarious. I look down at Shapeshift, picking up the card. "Shapeshift… you've been looking out for me, haven't you? Stay with me, old pal… we've got a long way to go, I think."

Gingerly, I slip the card back into my deck slot and clamber back aboard the Duel Runner. And leaving the half-eaten sandwich behind in the abyss, I make my way back to the platform—where I'm met by Rally, who, waving a stopwatch warns me that I was gone for over a half hour, and that if I were in fact to take that long in the Pipeline I would be buried in a tidal wave of garbage.

Remembering Shapeshift's laughter, I just give Rally a grin. "I'll manage. It would hardly be the most surprising thing I've done since I came here, huh?"

And after staring at me for a moment, Rally beams at me as well, though there's an underlying sadness that goes with it. I know he isn't ready to see me go, yet he also knows I have to, and he's pushing on and supporting me as best he can. I don't think I can ever express my gratitude for that; after finding me and taking me in like he did… anything I might try to do to repay him would just seem like small potatoes in comparison.

* * *

Night comes swiftly upon us. Dinner is eaten in silence, a nervousness filling the air not unlike the feeling that settled on the subway when Yusei left.

Tank's mind seems to be on things other than his stomach, though he doesn't share what it is while he stares blankly at his un-canned meat. Nervin stabs at a vegetable idly with a rusty fork, jabbing the bit of what we think is broccoli as if it were one of the thugs that attacked Blitz.

Speaking of Blitz, he sits with his back to the fire, cleaning his glasses obsessively; I say, "obsessively," because he has been cleaning them for at least a half hour, and the small lenses weren't even dirty to begin with.

But none of them is more dejected than Rally. My little friend sits beside me by the fire, cross-legged and staring into the flames.

Nobody seems to breathe during our last meal together. When someone does actually take a bite of their food, the crunch of teeth sounds like a cave-in crashing down on the floor of the tunnel.

Finally, Rally speaks, though he doesn't raise his eyes from the fire. "You'll… you'll be alright, won't you, Ben? Without us, I mean."

I reach over and place my hand atop his curly head. "Yeah. I'll be alright… how about you guys?" I add after a moment, sensing Rally's real question. "You guys will do just fine without me. After all, it's not the last time we're going to see each other."

"What do you mean, Ben?" Blitz asks, turning his head slightly. His eyes are red and puffy, and his glasses look dirtier than when he took them off.

"Well, when I get to the City, get my memories back and become the greatest duelist of them all, I'll bring you guys to live with me in my awesome penthouse," I grin at them, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

"What if you don't make it though?" Tank interjects, his trembling hands squeezing the metal can of his dinner so hard that the meat inside starts oozing out. "Yusei practiced for years to get through the Pipeline, and you've only been at this for less than a month…"

"Less than a month, and I'm making the circuit in less than two and a half minutes," I point out. I want to feel confident, just so that they're not worried, but my stomach is full of butterflies, and I'm sure that if I weren't clenching them tight around my Duel Disk, my hands would be shaking worse than Tank's. "And besides, I beat a Sector Security officer in my first Turbo Duel, that's got to be worth something right?"

And so, for a few more hours we converse, trying to keep our spirits up. Though the worry still remains that I won't make it in time, I feel much better knowing that I have their support.

Of course, I don't tell them that I can't wait to get out of this place. My desire to leave the Satellite extends far beyond my hopes to restore my memory; I don't like saying this, but… aside from the friends I've made, this place, for lack of more polite terms, isn't very nice. I'll be glad to be far away from this trash-covered hellhole, and to eat something that isn't canned or oddly smelling.

From inside the tent, an alarm starts beeping at a frenzied pace, echoing throughout the tunnel at an almost deafening volume as the sound bounces off the walls and assaults our position by the fire. My legs almost feel like jelly as I stand, and the others rise to their feet with me. As I begin the walk to my Duel Runner, I feel the same sort of trepidation that a prisoner on his way to the gallows might be feeling; the thought once again raises in my mind—what happens if I don't make it? What will they do to me if I get caught?

Shapeshift's laugh comes to mind again, putting me at ease as I climb onto the seat of my Duel Runner and power it up. The engine roars to life, joining with the shrieking alarm in a duet of high, piercing beeps and low, rumbling roars, like an aged lion attacking a screaming machine. Beneath me, the rocking of my vehicle feels almost calming combined with the laughter of my hero in the back of my head.

While the rest say their goodbyes and head into the tent, Rally sticks behind for a moment, staring up at me with his sparkling eyes that now shine with tears. "Ben…"

"Keep your cool, little dude," I say with a smile, ruffling up his hair again. "Don't cry on me. We've got lots of stuff to do in the City together, right? We'll eat all that food we talked about in between chapters, and see those moving picture thingies that you mentioned…"

He sniffles and hugs my arm hard. "Promise?"

"Promise," I agree, giving him another side hug. "I'll see you soon. Wish me luck."

"Good luck," he says in a small voice, only barely audible above the ruckus of my old machine.

I lower one of Yusei's old helmets onto my head, the visor freshly cleaned by Blitz. As it turns out, that's what he had been rubbing away at the whole time we were having our quiet dinner. Tank furnished me with a bit of a snack in case I got hungry—a rarity in the Satellite, French fries, which I promptly tucked away into the pocket of an old jacket which Nervin had found for me.

With these gifts equipped, the well-wishes of my friends in my heart, and the support of my Deck beside me, I rev up the engine once and depart from the subway for what may very well be the last time.

* * *

The digital map provided by my Duel Runner guides me without much issue to the Pipeline facility, a sprawling complex of smokestacks and square cement buildings that looms into the night sky, a towering black shadow against the starry canvas overhead. The road before me is lit both by headlight and moonlight, casting a glow of gold on silver as I speed ahead on the trash-strewn pathways.

As I approach the sewage plant, crossing over a rickety wooden bridge reinforced with metal railings and bracings, I hear the klaxon wail of warning sirens, with a robotic voice shouting, "Warning! Warning! You are entering an unauthorized zone! Turn back immediately!"

"I don't think so," I say under my breath, leaning forward and revving the engine, gunning directly toward the gates ahead. As the alarms blared around me, I saw a gate of metal bars beginning to rise from the ground in front of me, but by the time I passed over it, it was little more than a speed bump.

Weaving my way through the labyrinth of catwalks, pipes and tanks, I can't help but think of how smoothly this has all been going. Rally had helped me program a timer and map of the facility itself into the system of my Duel Runner, and I can see that I'm making good time.

I soon find my way into the building itself through an open loading bay of some sort. Going deeper in, my headlight is soon supplemented by the dim glow of red alarm lights that flash in warning as I plunge into the depths of the sewage plant… and soon, I find my turn-off into the Pipeline itself.

Decreasing my speed so that I can make the turn, I enter a narrow hatch that my vehicle just barely manages to clear. Said hatch then leads into another room, much larger, with several round tunnels lining one wall. "Almost there!"

"Don't be so sure about that, Satellite!" roars a voice from behind me, cold and arrogant. The sound of another engine comes screaming into my ears, catching me unawares; I should have realized that I couldn't get so lucky.

Glancing to the clock in the corner of my Duel Runner screen, I see that it's just about time; midnight is almost here. Rather than looking behind me like I did on my first run-in with Sector Security, I accelerate further, rocketing down the center tunnel as I try to make my escape before they can trigger a Turbo Duel.

To no avail, of course. Within seconds of hearing that first voice, I hear the voice come through my speakers once more—"Autopilot engaged. Activating Speed World…"

And then I see the officer coming to accost me. Riding astride the same sort of Duel Runner that the previous one I dueled rode, this one is built like a bull on a motorcycle. His thick muscular body is covered by a tight Security uniform, most of his head covered by his helmet, leaving only his cruel black eyes, enormous eyebrows and arrogant smirk visible.

"One of you punks has already gotten through—I'm not about to let a second of your kind into the City!" he bellows as the area becomes blanketed in purple. "When you see your little friend in the Facility, be sure to tell him Trudge says hello!"

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Trudge: 4000 LP**_

"I've heard about you from Officer Hertz, I'm not going to let you slip through my fingers, you wannabe hero!" Trudge growls, his voice thundering like a charging bull as he takes the first move.

_**Ben: 1 SC / Trudge: 1 SC**_

Drawing a card, he starts off with the familiar slab of Gate Blocker, in defense mode naturally. This time, however, I notice that the purple-tinted rock monster arises in front of me, to further hinder my speed. The single staring eye locks on me, and my eyes lock on the one eye, and we stare into each others' souls for a moment before I realize that it is just a hologram, and it doesn't have a soul to stare into. **(Gate Blocker: Level 4, EARTH, Rock-type; 100 ATK/2000 DEF)**

After playing Gate Blocker, the officer sets a face-down card and ends his turn there. The tunnel we're in widens and begins to wind for a bit, leaving me grateful for the autopilot. If I had to rely on my own wits with Gate Blocker in the way, I doubt I'd be able to steer through this, even with the map.

_**Ben: 1 SC / Trudge: 2 SC**_

As my turn starts, I hear the playful laughter of Shapeshift coming from nowhere, yet everywhere just like in the subway. And lo and behold, the card I draw from the top of my deck is him. Adding him to my hand, he joins the ranks of Bubbleman, Stratos and Ice Edge, a decently powerful group of four monsters that, if I weren't bound by the rules of stupid Speed Spells, I could quite easily place two Fusions on the field and wipe out Gate Blocker without a moment's hesitation.

Except I am bound by the rules of those stupid Speed Spells, and while I don't have any of those in hand, I do have two traps—A Hero Emerges, and a new one that I haven't seen yet: Element Counter. Looking at the latter trap, a plan starts forming in my mind…

"I'll kick things off by summoning Elemental Hero Ice Edge, in attack mode!" I declare, bringing my hero to life on the field.

He looks to be a younger version of Absolute Zero, perhaps a pre-timeskip version of him, whatever that means, or the child of Absolute Zero. A blue jumpsuit covers most of his body, over which is placed a spiky set of ice armor. Sharp and gleaming with a chilly light, spikes of frost jut out in every direction from his helmet and chestplate, a trail of snow following behind him as he runs alongside me. **(Elemental Hero Ice Edge: Level 3, WATER, Warrior-type; 800 ATK/900 DEF)**

"800 ATK?! Do you really expect to even leave a dent on Gate Blocker with that pitiful amount of strength?" Trudge taunts, quickly pulling ahead of me.

"No, I intend to bypass your monster entirely!" I reply. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can activate Ice Edge's effect, enabling him to attack you directly!"

After hesitantly parting ways with Bubbleman, who despite the nice draw two effect I cannot find much of a use for at the moment, I order Ice Edge onward. "Hit him with Icicle Crash, Ice Edge!"

Disappearing in a gust of snowy wind, an icy trail snakes its way around Gate Blocker and, I'm assuming, appears near Trudge, striking him with perhaps a blade made of ice. I hear the officer let out a groan of pain, and soon Ice Edge appears back beside me. "In addition, when he inflicts damage via a direct attack, I can destroy one of your backrow cards! Say goodbye to your facedown!"

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Trudge: 3200 LP**_

"Grr… not bad, but you'll have to do better than that, Satellite!" Trudge snarls. For a brief moment I can see his Duel Runner swerving from the effect of Ice Edge's attack, but soon he disappears behind Gate Blocker once more.

"From there, I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn!" I say, placing Element Counter and A Hero Emerges onto my field.

Trudge draws his next card, as his Speed Counters increase. My Speed Counter, however, stays pitifully lonely at one filled dot on the interface.

_**Ben: 1 SC / Trudge: 3 SC**_

"I'm not going to screw up this time… I'll start off by activating my Speed Spell – Speed Demon! Whenever I have three or more Speed Counters, I can deal 1000 points of damage directly to your Life Points!" Trudge says proudly; the card appears on the screen of my Duel Runner for a moment, just in time for me to see it before my Runner is tossed hard in one direction, wobbling a little before finally stabilizing.

_**Ben: 3000 LP / Trudge: 3200 LP**_

"Next, I'll be summoning Assault Dog in attack mode! Time to show you what _real_ damage is like!"

A large black Doberman leaps onto the field, equipped with green assault armor that covers most of its torso and guards the joints in its lower legs, as well as two twin guns fed by metal belts that climb into a silver container on the dog's back. It bounds along next to Trudge, making powerful leaps as it lands and jumps again. The dog also wears a pair of rather nice shades. **(Assault Dog: Level 4, EARTH, Beast-type; 1200 ATK/800 DEF)**

"Go, Assault Dog! Attack his Elemental Hero Ice Edge!" Trudge orders.

The dog turns to face us, using what is likely a targeting system linked to the shades to hone in on my hero; he begins to fire, but at the last moment I throw my hand out, activating my trap. "Not so fast—I play A Hero Emerges! I'll select a card from my hand at random, and if it's a monster, I get to Special Summon it! And with my luck, I've gotten… Elemental Hero Stratos!"

Barely waiting for me to place him onto the field, Stratos zooms out in front of me, the metal wings outstretched so wide that they almost touch the walls on either side of the tunnel. The blue steel of the visor shines in the dim lighting, the turbines in his wings spinning so fast that they're only visible for an instant. Rather than hovering in midair like in a ground duel, he soars beside me, doing various tricks as he flies at my side. **(Elemental Hero Stratos: Level 4, WIND, Warrior-type; 1800 ATK/300 DEF)**

"And when Stratos is summoned, I can search my deck for another Hero monster, or I can destroy magic or traps up to the number of other Heroes I control! I'll be going for the former—and adding Elemental Hero Heat!"

Trudge growls again. "I heard about your tricks with Heat, scum! I'm not about to let your ATK get high enough to crush Gate Blocker. Keep going, Assault Dog! Take out Ice Edge!"

I'm thankful that at that moment, Ice Edge disappears in front of Gate Blocker so that I don't have to see him ripped apart by the massive Doberman. Nonetheless, I feel my Duel Runner rock, though not as badly as when affected by the Speed Spell.

_**Ben: 2600 LP / Trudge: 3200 LP**_

_Well, there goes the element of surprise…_ I think to myself, trying to see my way out of this. If I summon him next turn, Heat will only be at 2000, which would only match Gate Blocker's DEF and not leave a scratch on it. If I could fuse, that would be one thing, but with only one Speed Counter, that seems to be off the table for the time being.

"I'll be ending my turn there. Enjoy your last ride, Satellite, because you'll be in the Facility for a long time when I take you down!"

Ignoring his taunts, I draw my next card and watch helplessly as his Speed Counters increase. I've drawn another trap card, which I find a bit odd; my ground duel deck doesn't contain too many traps, and I've never drawn three in such rapid succession. I have noticed that the Speed Spells are automatically placed in my deck, perhaps the traps are also inserted automatically to make up for the lack of magic cards?

Nonetheless, I push on, knowing that there are more pressing matters before me—namely, a very large slab of rock that is staring at me creepily with one eye. Glancing at the trap card added to my hand, I immediately put together two and two—it would be just what I needed, if it were a magic card.

Heat Crystals, the card is called, bearing the artwork of several red gems surrounded in bright orange flames, long tongues of fire clashing all around them as they sparkle. The effect? Remove from play two Elemental Heroes that I control, or are in the Graveyard, and I can Special Summon a FIRE Fusion Hero from my Fusion Deck. A very nice way to bring out Nova Master, though I'd appreciate it a lot more if I could activate it right away rather than waiting a turn as we get closer and closer to the end of the Pipeline.

"I'll summon Elemental Hero Heat, in attack mode! And since you already know all about him, I don't have to explain his ATK boost!" I state.

Swooping into the duel with a burst of heat energy, Elemental Hero Heat shines bright like a being of pure light, wreathed in flames as he soars alongside Stratos and I. Sparks and embers trail behind him, popping and crackling like logs in a campfire as he cuts through the air. **(Elemental Hero Heat: Level 4, FIRE, Pyro-type; 1600 ATK/1200 DEF) (Elemental Hero Heat: 2000 ATK)**

"And from there, I'll be using him to attack your Assault Dog! Firecracker Smash!"

Heat somersaults over Gate Blocker, landing on the other side and disappearing from my line of sight, though I imagine that he manages to destroy the dog in a burst of flames before he returns to my side of the field, appearing like a phoenix from the ashes.

_**Ben: 2600 LP / Trudge: 2400 LP**_

"Looks like I've taken the lead again, officer!"

"That's what you'd think, isn't it? But thanks to Assault Dog's effect, whenever he's destroyed, I can summon up to two more of him from my Deck! Take the field, boys!" Trudge booms as two more of those beasts appear on the field.

"Like that'll make much difference—go, Stratos! Take out one of them!" And complying, Stratos shifts to a standing position, his turbines spinning out of control as two cyclones form and swirl forward, most likely sweeping up one of the Assault Dogs and turning it into little more than pixels thanks to the powerful winds.

_**Ben: 2600 LP / Trudge: 1800 LP**_

"Then I'll set one more card and call it a turn! Your move, chief!"

_**Ben: 1 SC / Trudge: 5 SC**_

"I draw!" comes Trudge's gruff voice from behind Gate Blocker. "And I'll activate Speed Spell – Speed Demon's effect! By removing three Speed Counters, I can add it back to my hand!"

_**Ben: 1 SC / Trudge: 2 SC**_

"I'll summon the Tuner monster, Torapart!" Trudge declares.

An ugly little creature is the best way to summarize this monster. With two halves that look like mirror images of one another, the top body extends upwards from an oblong gray shape. Wrapped in a navy-blue high collared cloak, with matching glasses and a black hat with a red flower poking out, it grins out at me with crooked teeth between white and purple lips set on a splotchy pale face. Seeing it gives me very much the urge to stick it between Stratos's turbines and let it be chopped up. **(Torapart: Level 2, DARK, Warrior-type/Tuner; 600 ATK/600 DEF)**

"A Tuner monster…" I say, a bit surprised; this is the first time I can recall seeing one. Am I about to witness a Synchro Summon?

"Now, by tuning my Torapart with Assault Dog, I can summon Goyo Guardian to my field in attack mode!"

Barely having time to give me another creepy grin, Torapart transforms into two green rings, which surround Assault Dog. As they begin to scan over its body, it becomes a yellow outline of itself, before turning into four stars, two on either side of each ring. Soon, a beam of bright light shoots between the rings, blinding for a brief moment. And the monster left standing where the other two once were is quite a sight.

Tall and a bit skinny, face and body painted white with Kabuki makeup. Dressed in flowing black robes that look a bit too big for it in the shoulders, this monster wields a baton-like object attached to a rope, which he swings in a menacing circle all while glaring at me with a playful grin on his red lips. **(Goyo Guardian: Level 6, EARTH, Warrior-type/Synchro; 2800 ATK/2000 DEF)**

"This is the beginning of the end for you, Satellite! Go, Goyo Guardian, attack his Elemental Hero Heat!" Trudge orders.

Swinging the weapon high over his head like a cowboy with a lasso, the monster hurls it baton-first at Heat. Rather than running him through and shattering him, however, the rope tangles around Heat and he is soon pulled back to Trudge's side of the field, albeit in Defense Mode.

"What?" I say, surprised and a bit confused. "Why didn't he go to my Graveyard?"

_**Ben: 1800 LP / Trudge: 1800 LP**_

"That's Goyo Guardian's effect, punk! When he destroys a monster by battle, I can take control of it, but it's moved to defense mode," Trudge explains. "And I'll be taking a lot more than just your monsters when we're done here!"

"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that. Can't you come up with any better dialogue?" I snark, growing a bit impatient from the taunting. "I've got somewhere to be!"

"Don't worry, this will all be over soon! Wouldn't want you to miss your court date after all," he laughs harshly. "I'm going to end my turn there. Make your last pathetic moves!"

Baring my teeth at the idea of 'pathetic moves,' I draw another card—this one, an unfamiliar one called Elemental Hero Lady Heat. She appears to be the counterpart to Heat—naming aside, obviously; similarly patterned armor, with flames dancing between her hands as if she were juggling them. Long hair in gradients of red to orange like fire itself sticks out from all angles, trailing behind her like a cloak. And noticing her burn effect, I place her on the field; she can defeat Heat, after all, and open me up for Heat Crystals. **(Elemental Hero Lady Heat: Level 4, FIRE, Pyro-type; 1300 ATK/1000 DEF)**

"Bringing Heat's girlfriend onto the scene won't do much, you know!" Trudge says mockingly. Just like with the last officer, I can almost hear the smirk.

"She's not his girlfriend, she's his sister!" I retort, and as I do so Lady Heat looks incredibly offended, the flames around her intensifying in temperature, as if reacting to anger. "And she'll do just what I need—knock some sense into her brother! Go get him!"

Juggling the fireballs between her hands once more, she winds back like a pitcher and hurls one past Gate Blocker and, I'm assuming, directly at Heat. I soon see him reappear in my Graveyard slot, and I know that the job is done. However… there's still the problem that not even Nova Master can beat over that Goyo Guardian, and while some burn damage from both Lady Heat and Element Counter will do some good, it only looks like it's delaying things for the time being…

Looking at the map, I feel my anxiety spike. We're near the end of the Pipeline—and there's only a minute to go before the hatch closes and the trash starts flowing once more. I _have_ to figure something out… and so I end my turn there, setting Lady Heat's burn damage upon Trudge. Another fireball shoots past Gate Blocker, and I can imagine Trudge's Duel Runner thrashing about as it impacts for 400 damage.

"W-whoa! What was that?!" Trudge questions, shaken up a bit from the sudden damage.

"Lady Heat's effect—for each Elemental Hero I control, during each of my End Phases you take 200 points of damage!"

_**Ben: 1800 LP / Trudge: 1400 LP**_

I begin to think about my face-down Element Counter, and immediately I begin to imagine how wonderful it would be if Goyo Guardian didn't have that stupid effect. He'd take out my two monsters, and then I'd blast him!

Wait—examining the effect on my screen, I can't help the grin that comes across my face. In my head, I hear Shapeshift giggling as well, a noise that soothes my anxiousness and fills me with the confidence that I've got others pulling for me.

"You can do this, Ben…" I say to myself, quietly.

_WE can do this, you mean?_ comes a voice that sounds as if it would go well with that playful laugh.

_We're with you. Always,_ a feminine voice agrees, soft yet passionate and warm like a fire in a hearth that one might find in a romantic mountain cabin.

_BRRRRRRRR,_ goes the sound of two turbines working at once, though I swear something is said underneath it all, albeit unintelligible.

Or at least I think that I hear all that—but I can't actually think that my monsters are talking to me, right?

God, I actually think my monsters are talking to me…

Nonetheless, I press on, feeling emboldened by the encouragement of what is either the monsters themselves or my own fragile mental state projecting memories onto holograms. I try not to linger on the possibilities there. Revving my Duel Runner, I give Trudge the go ahead to begin his turn, which he does proudly.

"And this is it—where you made your big mistake! With Speed Spell – Speed Demon and Goyo Guardian, I have enough damage to take you out of the game!"

_**Ben: 1 SC / Trudge: 3 SC**_

Once again that fierce jolt bumps my Duel Runner around, luckily allowing me to loll slightly toward the left, where the hatch will be coming up. Gate Blocker keeps floating in front of me, an emotionless canvas upon which someone has inexplicably drawn a wide, staring eye.

_**Ben: 800 LP / Trudge: 1400 LP**_

"Go on, Goyo Guardian! Attack his Lady Heat and bring this fugitive to justice!" Trudge commands proudly.

"And THAT is your big mistake, Trudge! I activate Element Counter!" I roar triumphantly, feeling pride surge through me as we make one last turn into a long hallway. Thirty seconds to go… "When you declare an attack, I can negate it and inflict damage to you equal to the number of Elemental Heroes in my Graveyard times 500! Know what that means?"

At his silence, I answer with, "I win!"

_**Ben: 800 LP / Trudge: 0 LP**_

"Damn it! How can I get beaten by trash like them so many times?!" Trudge roars, pounding on the handlebars of his Duel Runner as the holograms fade and steam starts issuing from his machine.

I soon pass him by. Ten seconds. Nine. Eight…

The hatch is in sight, but it's starting to close…

Seven, six… I begin the turn, but find myself unable to move the handlebars! I'm going to pass right by it!

_Focus, Ben!_

Five. Four. My mind becomes clear. Freeing my Duel Disk from the ancient mechanism of the Duel Runner, I leap from the seat and roll, clutching the metal object to my chest as I just squeeze under the hatch. The floor is cold on my back, and I'm breathing heavily, heart thudding like someone were playing drums with my inner organs.

Sitting up, I let out a loud whoop of victory, and realize that I'm outside—and not in the Satellite! I've come out in some sort of plant much like the one in the Satellite, though in the distance I can see tall skyscrapers against the night sky, their silhouettes proudly lit by all sorts of lights filling the city. I can hear softly the sounds of city life; vehicles, music, sirens signalling organized crime at hand… but most importantly, the smell of freedom, with a distinct lack of rot unlike the Satellite.

I rise to my feet and begin walking up the cement path, my legs aching somewhat as I take what may or may not be my first steps in New Domino City. The moon shines bright above me, a spotlight that illuminates my face and is… almost blinding with its luminosity.

"Freeze! We have you surrounded!"

Then I realize—that isn't a spotlight. And those far off sirens signalling organized crime at hand—not so far off. Surrounding me are several Security officers garbed in their gray uniforms, faces obscured by helmets. There's far more of them than I could ever even hope to take at once—I can barely hope to take on one—and without my Duel Runner I'd never be able to get away from this many…

A pang of guilt runs through me; my Duel Runner is probably totaled now, smashed up by the onrush of junk coming in from the City. And I can't help but wonder what became of Trudge—he made it sound like he had chased Yusei before. Did he get out alright this time too, or did the second time do him in?

As I try to think more on it, strong hands grab me by the arms and tear the Duel Disk from my grasp. I struggle to get free, just to keep hold of the one object that I have that contains some sort of memory for me, but to no avail. The Security officers drag me over to an armored car, open up a set of heavy metal doors, and toss me in. I hear the lock _thunk_ after the doors are shut, and I'm left in complete darkness.

* * *

**AND THAT IS A WRAP FOR THIS CHAPTER! So, I know I skipped over the bit with Lenny, but I'm gonna be completely honest, I tried writing it several different ways, and each of them just bored the life out of me. So now we made it to the City—what lies ahead?**

**Thank you all so much for the kind words, I'll admit that part of the reason I was a bit hesitant to jump back into writing this story was that I was worried you guys wouldn't enjoy it. But I'm glad you all seem to be liking where this is going, I promise this is where we start getting into the good stuff :) I do hope this chapter was alright, and not too fast-paced or anything like that. I've got the passion for writing back again, and I just want to get into the stuff I've been planning since I started writing this story, so I do apologize if this chapter is a bit… hyper, or whatnot. **

**So, we get to see Ben making his escape from the Satellite, a duel with Trudge, and the unfortunate trashing of his Duel Runner. And of course, the start of his trip to the Facility, and everything beyond. I decided to add in a few extra traps to his Turbo Deck to make up for the lack of Speed Spells, and so I've been using a few extra cards from the manga, hope you all don't mind too much. **

**And also, why on Earth is Ben hearing all these card spirits? What sorts of things will this lead into? Who is this mysterious person that plays with Ben's hair in his memories? And what exactly is Elemental Hero Shapeshift? **

**(Also, if anyone can guess who/what he's based off of from my probably crappy description of him, I'll DM you and answer any one question about the story, within reason. This offer only extends to the first person who says it though, so… en garde I suppose?)**

**Anyway, taken up enough of your time with this wordy author's note. I will say that while I got this out decently quick compared to my planned every other week schedule, I wouldn't count on a chapter every week. Although with a certain outbreak going around, depending on if my work gets closed down or not… well, who's to say?**

**As always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE!**

**~Chase**


	9. Chapter 9: New Domino City

**Chapter 9: New Domino City**

* * *

Long shafts of golden afternoon light slant in through a large window at the top of the eastern wall, the only source of light in the otherwise dim courtroom. I squint my eyes as I stare up at the judge, a thin, solemn-faced man who looks like a giant seated at the tall slab of dark wood that serves as the judge's bench. He stares down at an open file, his eyes tired as he flips through several pieces of paper.

"Let's see here… your name is Ben?" he asks after a moment, shuffling the papers together and looking back to me.

"Yes," I reply a bit awkwardly, shifting in my chair to ease the discomfort in my bound hands. "…Your Honor."

"Oh, good, you know basic courtroom manners, you're a step above the average person I find in here," he states, his tone somewhat bored. "And your last name?"

Pause. Pause. A third pause. A slightly longer fourth pause as I try to think of a believable answer, but finally settle on, "I… don't know. There's a lot about me that I don't know."

He shuffles his papers together several times during the long pauses, before finally stopping again at my statement. "You don't know your own last name? This is a court of law, son, not a comedy club."

"I have amnesia, Your Honor, I only remember my first name. And only that it's Ben, not even if it's short for anything," I explain, hoping that I won't be branded a liar.

"I see… well, according to these files here, your surname is Galloway," he says in a matter-of-fact tone, picking up one of the sheets of paper and studying it. "And Ben is short for Benj—" however, before he can finish saying my full name, the sound of a truck honking is heard loudly in the background, and he sighs and mutters, "Of course they give the old man the courtroom nearest the highway…"

The flash of light reflecting off glasses is visible as he pushes them up on his face, and I can see his eyes go wide when he looks closer at the papers. Sighing again, he stands up and looks off to his right, into a dark doorway.

"Did anyone check these files before they gave them to me? This can't be right at all!" he yells, standing up from his chair. He looks to me. "Pardon me, Ben… I'll be back. Imbeciles don't know how to get the proper forms and records and…" he walks through the dark doorway, shaking his head and grumbling many things that probably should not be repeated.

After what felt like hours alone in that dim courtroom, the judge returns with a puzzled look on his face, but no apparent additions or replacements to the collection of files. He sits down, frowns, and shuffles the papers several more times.

"Well, son… you say that you don't know much about yourself. And, from what you've shown me, that seems to be the truth." He pauses. "Something I know about you, however, is that, whether or not you realize it… you've got some very powerful people looking out for you."

I give him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

He beckons to one of the empty doorframes, and a Sector Security officer steps out and walks to him, the white helmet gleaming like a shiny bald head as some of the light from outside hits it. When the guard reaches him, the judge hands him a sheet of paper and he brings it to me, placing it in my hands. It's still warm, as if it just came out of the printer.

"You've received a pardon from Director Goodwin himself. You're to be released within the next few days, into the custody of someone sent by the Director to collect you. You'll be given back your Deck and Duel Disk—quite a nice collector's item, if you'll forgive me for saying—and from there, well… Director Goodwin will decide from there, I'm assuming."

I look down at the paper. It bears the official-looking heading, "From the desk of Rex Goodwin, Director of Sector Security," and has a bit of rather stuffy wording that basically translates to, "Let the boy go, or I'll be making you into a table."

How someone is able to make another person into a table, I do not know, nor do I particularly want to know. Reading through it several times, I spot "Benj—" in multiple places, though each time I see it, after the j it appears as if the printer must have run out of ink, or else purposely left unfinished for some unknown reason.

"So… I'm free?" I ask after a moment.

The judge nods. "After a few days. The person Director Goodwin is sending should be here within two or three days, so you won't have to be here too long. I'm rather glad this is how we're doing it, it didn't feel right to send you to the Facility with your situation," he says kindly. "Welcome to New Domino City, son. Or, perhaps, welcome back."

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

_The dream is the same I've had ever since I arrived in New Domino City._

_Endless darkness surrounds me as I stand in a circle of light, closing in on it like a pack of predators going for the kill on weakened prey. The oppressive shadow presses in, as if trying to choke away all the life from the light. From the depths of the abyss, I feel cruel gazes upon my back, sides, and all around me, a whole army of them stalking me like fearsome foes waiting to strike. The air is still, and silent. _

_Before me, standing with his arms outstretched protectively, is a man who, if I could not see him breathe, I would have assumed he was a statue. Porcelain white skin stretches across a chiseled, muscular body, with three blue orbs set in places across his angular form; one on each shoulder, deep blue and gleaming bright like sapphires, and a third on the top of his head, turquoise and shining with immense power. In his strong arms, he holds two blazing swords, fiery and defiant against the suffocating darkness around us. _

_I don't know his name, and it pains me to say that. I should—I SHOULD, and it feels like a betrayal to say that I cannot remember. His face is turned away, but I know it all too well, adding to the additional insult that I cannot recall the name of this creature, who I know has been a lifelong companion to me. _

_Opposing us are two shadowy figures. One stands before the other, tall and grim, cloaked in moving shadows, with inky black wings that give off leathery flapping sounds, like a bat's wings. Behind that is a shorter one, my height, or a bit smaller, and the only thing visible from that dark mass is a pair of angry golden eyes affixing me with a hateful stare that seems to tell me that this is where I die, threatening to shred me down to my last atom._

_Pain racks my body, countless broken bones somehow holding my injured frame together. Ragged breaths elicit from my mouth, my lungs seeming to rattle from within me as I stand proud, and just as angry as the shadow before me. _

"_This… isn't the end!" I state in a defiant growl, holding my arm out in front of me. Attached to it is the Duel Disk I've carried with me through the Satellite, although the wear and tear is gone, and it appears to be brand new._

"_It is." The shadow states. "You should have learned this by now, old friend… Evil _always_ triumphs. Go, my monster! Eliminate this final thorn in my side with Malicious Force!"_

_The inky black creature rushes forth and passes a shadowy hand through my monster—before bearing down on me. I feel the wings beating stale air down upon me, and then an unimaginable amount of pressure gripping my body as the hand slashes through me as well._

_And then, I fall forever. But two words emerge from my lips, naming my lifelong partner before the oncoming darkness embraces me._

"_Terra… Firma…"_

And then I awaken to the sound of my cell door sliding open with a clean, hydraulic hiss. I never realized just how high-tech New Domino City is compared to the Satellite until I found myself in the holding area of the City's main courthouse.

"Come on, kid, time to get up. Your ticket out's here," says the guard coldly, tossing me a towel. "And mop up the sweat, this isn't a gym."

I turn the fluffy white towel over in my hands, realizing just then that my hair is matted with sweat, and I'm breathing a bit heavily as well. Looking down at the hard mattress they provided for me, I can see a dark shadow where my head had laid just moments before.

_That dream again… what the hell is it? _I ask myself, combing my hands through my messy hair, digging my fingers through the tangled locks. _Those eyes… that monster… why are they so familiar?_

And the name repeats itself in a dull echo of my own voice, _Terra Firma. Terra Firma._

Just then, Shapeshift decides to grace me with his presence, his voice excited as he speaks to me, _You remembered the boss?! You remembered the boss! Man, they'll be so glad to hear it… maybe we'll find him again soon…_

_Shapeshift, you keep mentioning 'the Boss,' _I say, having gotten slightly more used to the idea of having conversations with Shapeshift. Perhaps because of these dreams, the notion that this hero might actually be speaking to me doesn't seem quite so ludicrous anymore.

_Yeah! Elemental Hero Terra Firma! He's one of the only ones who has been with you longer than me, so he's kind of in charge, _Shapeshift explains. I can almost hear him bouncing up and down in my mind, though soon he begins to laugh softly.

_What's so funny?_

_It's just… I was worried that we'd never be able to talk like this again, Ben. We were all worried._

I start to question him on the usage of 'we,' but before I can the door opens again, with the guard standing there looking a bit annoyed. His mouth has a foul twist to it, as if he's just eaten something sour. "Hurry up, kid, we've got a schedule to keep! Get dressed so we can get you out of here!"

The door shuts again and I'm left alone to my thoughts, though I can feel the guard's presence outside. I look to the corner of the small room, where my clothes sit freshly laundered in a shabby wooden dresser. Standing and dressing, I can't help but notice that the long-sleeved shirt I first wore in the Satellite has gotten a bit baggier, though I write it off as side effects of the Satellite diet. Slipping on my shoes and dabbing the sweat-stained mattress with the towel, I walk to the door and rap on it a couple times.

"Took you long enough. Come on, trash," he growls, grabbing my arm and yanking me from the cell. I don't know whether or not he's heard about the pardon from Director Goodwin—or if he even cares. From my experience the past few days, there's a pretty heavy hatred for anyone from the Satellite here in the City. "Can't believe they're just going to let garbage like you back onto the streets…"

"You know, 'garbage like me' can hear you," I snark, stepping out onto the brightly polished linoleum flooring and beginning my walk. My knee buckles, however, as I feel a sharp blow in the back of my leg, and I'm forced to one knee.

"If I wanted to hear garbage talking back, I'd be watching politics. Move!" he says, kicking me once again as he walks past me.

Clenching my fists, feeling a surge of defiance running through me, I push myself to my feet and begin walking behind him. Though I briefly contemplate it, I decide rather quickly that striking a guard when I've been set free is probably the worst thing I can do right now. Instead, holding my chin high, I follow behind, refusing to react to his taunts and attacks.

_Good boy, Ben. Don't forget, you're a hero, not a villain,_ Shapeshift comments.

We make our way through the somewhat modern-looking holding area, passing by bright white walls set with sliding metal doors that march alongside us as we walk, and soon break out into the more vintage-style court building.

Beautifully polished floors stretch out beneath a high ceiling that seems like it could be hundreds upon hundreds of feet high. The footsteps of dozens of other people echoes through the building as they walk toward the various counters spread throughout the place, dodge around tall urns full of lush green plants, or fill out mounds of documents in the multitude of uncomfortable-looking chairs dotting the carpeted areas. On the back wall, with an army of spotlights shining upon it, is the Sector Security emblem, an orange hexagon with several black designs inside of it, looming over us all.

All in all, this place seems like the breeding ground for inconvenience.

We're joined by a second guard as we approach another electric sliding door, though he doesn't speak. The first officer attempts to provoke me again, but gives up with a scowl when I don't respond. Soon we're at the doors, which are made of glass that is so clear I almost think that it's open air at first, and they hiss open.

And for the first time in days, sunlight hits me as we step outside, the golden rays enveloping me with warmth as I look up to the bright blue sky with a smile. I breathe in the air, and can't help but laugh softly at how it doesn't smell odd like Satellite air; the guards give me a weird look, and the first one pushes me forward, nearly causing me to trip down the ten concrete stairs that take us down to street level.

Looking around, I find myself dwarfed by the skyscrapers that until now I had only seen from a distance when I first arrived in the city. They grow out of the ground like enormous trees, equipped with thousands of reflective glass windows that shower sunlight down upon me, flashing like hot bursts of white and yellow whenever my eyes touch them. Choirs of birds wheel through the sky, flying over or around them in their musical groups of many colors.

"The city is beautiful," I find myself saying to no one in particular.

"Bet it is, compared to that trash heap you came from," the first guard taunts.

"Ben!" shouts a voice from the bottom of the steps. "Ben West!"

Letting my eyes move through the small crowd swimming their way up the staircase, they finally fall upon a smartly dressed old man with snow white hair. The crowd parts around the officers and I as we descend, finally coming to a stop in front of him. Every bit of him seems to be smiling—no, _beaming_ as I approach; his smile is radiant, his eyes shining with a mix of joy and perhaps tears, and his white button-up seems to reflect the sun itself.

"You're the one the Director sent?" asks the first guard.

"Mm," the man says in affirmative, waving them off. "Come now, let an old man see his young man. It's been a very long time."

The second guard nods silently and turns on his heel, but the first one gives me a look of warning before he retreats into the building as well. Soon, the crowd subsides as well, leaving myself and the old man standing alone in the street.

He stands only a little bit shorter than me, bent with age but in his youth he must have been just as tall as me, if not more. Short hair falls in white wisps around his head, like puffs of snow that piled up and were never shovelled away; once, he must have had a fine mane, but now it's thinning somewhat. Intelligence peaks out from behind his spectacles, radiating from blue eyes that are only a few shades above my own blue gray.

Something about him seems so familiar… but I can't place it. Surely, we must be related, though; my grandfather perhaps?

"Ben… Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben…" the old man says, wrapping me in a hug. For someone his age, he still has a strong grip; he pulls me to him and I can smell his cologne. "I was so worried that I'd never see you again."

I chew on my lip for a moment, feeling rather bad about what I'm going to say next, "Sorry… who are you? Grandpa?"

He releases me and takes a step back, studying me with his sharp eyes. Then, he begins to chuckle softly, though his eyes betray a small hint of sadness. "I should not have ruled out this outcome… no, Ben, I am not your grandfather. Nor your uncle, great-uncle, or any other sort of relation. Just a very old friend," he explains. "For now… you can call me Mr. M, until you can recall my name. But enough of that, let's get you home. I'm sure you'd like an actual bed, and a meal."

My stomach rumbles guiltily; the meals we were given in the holding cells weren't much, just enough to keep from breaking any sort of cruelty laws. "Well… that wouldn't be a bad idea, Mr. M."

He claps me on the back and begins walking me away from the building. "Come on, I've also got your cards and Duel Disk in the car. I'm sure you've missed them."

* * *

Mr. M was right—I did miss my cards. I've felt weirdly empty without them this whole time, only realizing this now that they're in my possession once more. Shapeshift seems glad to have the others back as well, spending the whole ride bouncing off the walls of my mind shouting for joy.

The car cruises through the streets of New Domino, as smooth as if it were hovering along. Mr. M is a very competent driver at his age, or else he must be using some sort of autopilot—though I do think it is the former.

Passing down a fancy street packed with large, luxurious mansions set side-by-side with tall skyscrapers where every unit must be a penthouse, we finally come to a set of large, ornate gates that swing smoothly as we approach.

"It's been so long since I've seen metal without rust on it…" I comment absently, staring out the window in awe.

Mr. M chuckles. "Why thank you. I take pride in the lack of rust on my gates," he replies as we go down the driveway. On either side of us, a carpet of green grass blankets the ground, all leading up to an absolutely _massive_ house.

Though short when compared to the looming skyscrapers that seem to serve as pillars holding the sky in the air, the large white house sprawls out wider than any other house we've passed on this street. Three stories tall and resting at the end of a circular driveway, it shines pristinely in the bright sun like it was plucked out of heaven itself. A few small towers stick up just over the slant of the roof, with a couple of various other smaller buildings on the property.

"I'll wager that you didn't see anything like this in the Satellite, Ben," Mr. M says as we pull up to the front of the house. "I still wonder how you ever even got there… you say that you don't remember anything?"

"Nothing," I confirm. "Aside from a few small fragments… my memory is a blank after I woke up in the Satellite."

This bit of information seems to intrigue Mr. M. "Fragments, you say? Well, I might be able to help with them… could you tell me what they are?"

I pause, trying to gather all the details that I can. "Well… one of the things I remember is a massive stone with an angry face. It's floating in the sky, and shaking like it's about to drop," I say, being quite puzzled by that.

Mr. M laughs. "That's easy. That memory comes from a video game that you were very fond of years ago. Is that everything?"

"Well, no. I remembered several people saying my name… which is how I remembered that I was even called Ben," I explain, and then I hesitate for a moment before adding on the next part, "and… when I got that memory of the video game… I also remembered someone playing with my hair. Their hands seemed really soft."

His eyes widen for half a second, but return to normal as he steps out of the car, gesturing for me to do the same. "Hmm… that's something even I can't place," he says, though the way he speaks it suggests that there is more to it than that. "But enough of this, let's go inside and get you some real food."

I follow him inside, through a set of ornate wooden doors, and into an amazing entryway. Polished black floors reflect white light from above, and throughout the room tall ceramic urns sprout lush green plants; art that I would rather not share my plebeian opinion on hangs from the walls, and several doorways open into other rooms. A magnificent white staircase rises from the floor into the other levels.

"Dr. Pepper, we're home!" Mr. M yells out, seemingly to no one. He takes off his jacket and hangs it on a hook by the door, doing the same with his keys. "You'll have to forgive Dr. Pepper if he jumps on you at all, it's been many years since we've had visitors."

Looking around, I finally find the voice to speak. "Who's Dr. Pepper? And… how long have I been gone? You're talking like I've been away for years…"

"It certainly feels like years, my boy. It certainly feels like it," Mr. M replies in a suddenly weary tone. "Ah, here's Dr. Pepper! Come here, old friend, we have a visitor."

Rounding the corner of one of the doorways, a small green head appears first. Then, slowly, the rest of the body appears; four legs, a massive shell, and a tail.

"A… tortoise?" I ask incredulously as the large reptile whose doctor-ness I am strongly doubting begins to walk toward us. Its feet tap slowly on the floor, beady eyes fixed intently upon me.

"Indeed. And a very intelligent one at that," Mr. M says.

We wait silently for several minutes until the tortoise reaches us, standing directly in front of me. Hesitantly, I kneel down and begin to run my hand along its neck, tracing the rough and smooth scales. My hand brushes against a small red collar, from which dangles a tiny golden medal that reads "Dr. Pepper."

Just then, a sharp jolt runs through my mind. I gasp, squeezing my eyes shut and biting my lip in pain. "_Dr. Pepper… that's a good name for him, I think,_" I hear my own voice saying in my mind.

"Ben?!" Mr. M says in surprise, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?!"

After a moment, I calm down, and open my eyes once more. Taking deep, steady breaths, I reply, "I… just remembered something. I think… did I name Dr. Pepper?"

"You did," Mr. M confirms. "Dr. Pepper has been beside you for nearly as long as your Heroes."

"But… he seems so old," I state, feeling the wrinkles on the tortoise's leathery skin.

"What can I say? We're an old pair," Mr. M muses, gently pulling to my feet. "Come on, Ben. I'll show you to your room, and then you can go off and do as you please… so long as you don't wind up in the Satellite again. How does that sound?"

Finally tearing my eyes away from the increasingly familiar eyes of the reptile in front of me, I nod.

Mr. M leads me up the stairs to the top floor, Dr. Pepper trailing along behind us at a typical space for an aged tortoise. We pass rows and rows of bookshelves filled to the brim with books, portraits of people who have a rather science-y look to them, plants, trophies, computers, and just about everything else under the Sun; I don't understand how this house can be filled with so many things.

Finally, we stop at a door at the end of the eastern hallway. A window right beside it faces out onto the green expanse of the yard, revealing a rather large in-ground pool and an army of topiary shaped like all sorts of animals. Mr. M turns the doorknob, the noise drawing my attention away from the outside, and shows me into the room.

On its own, this room is twice as big as the tent Rally, Yusei and I shared in the Satellite. A large bed rests in the center of the western wall, set between a desk and a tall bookshelf that stretches all the way to the ceiling, complete with a ladder beside it. A closet is built into the wall beside the bookshelf, and it sits open, exposing several articles of clothing. The eastern wall, however, is dominated by a long bay window that runs along almost the entirety of the wall, letting in a large amount of natural light and giving me an even better view than the window outside. A wide chest sits beneath the window, covered in some sort of fabric and decorated with patterns that seem like nonsense to me.

"Welcome home, Ben," Mr. M says from behind me. "I hope that you'll regain your memories soon. This place has felt so lonely with you gone."

On the left side of the bed, I see that a small, circular bed, like what a pet would sleep on, has been laid out. Pushing past Mr. M, Dr. Pepper moseys his way over and lays down on it, seeming to smile with contentment as I sit down on my bed.

"I hope I can remember too… if this is where I live, I can't wait to remember all the cool stuff we've done here."

Sitting here on this bed, with Dr. Pepper snoozing beside me and Mr. M standing in the doorway…

…It almost feels like I'm home…

…Almost.

* * *

**Alright folks, here we have it! I did decide to write out the Facility business after all, and it does seem like a pretty decent amount of you wanted it that way. Based off the poll, about 72% actually did want the Facility out of the way so that we could learn more about Ben, and I'm not complaining honestly. I think now that I have a bit more creative freedom for the time being, we'll be able to get the plot moving a lot quicker without the extra padding from the Facility, although I am a bit sad to dispose of Sanda like that, it might just be my incredibly stupid sense of humor but I grew rather fond of that tracksuit wearing idiot. **

**Anyway, forgive me again for bothering you with a notification, but since this **_**is**_** an actual chapter, if not a bit updated, I hope that when you come after me with your torches and pitchforks you'll show some bit of mercy. **

**SO! IN THIS EPISODE! Ben is pardoned from time in the Facility due to an order from… Director Goodwin himself?! How can this be?! (I mean, if you've ever played Stardust Accelerator you have a basic idea, but pretend you don't, please. For my fragile ego.) Then, he goes on to meet an old man from his past, Mr. M, who lives in an enormous mansion with an equally old tortoise named Dr. Pepper—who Ben suddenly remembered naming! And our questions—who is Mr. M? Did Ben give Dr. Pepper his name when he was already very old, and probably had his own name that he'd given to himself? Is Dr. Pepper an actual doctor? Where is Elemental Hero Terra Firma? And what the hell is Benj— short for?!**

**Find out all these questions and more… on the next chapter of Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time!**

**So, as always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, stay healthy, and I'll see ya when I see ya. PEACE!**

**~Chase**


	10. Chapter 10: Mr M - Part 1

**Chapter 10: Mr. M and His Funky Molecules - Part 1  
**

* * *

As I lay in my plush bed, the sheets wrapped and twisted around my body like the linen wraps that covered mummies, I can hear Mr. M down in the kitchen making breakfast, listening to a very upbeat rock song about some girl who has been living in an uptown world, sung from the perspective of the downtown man who is in love with said uptown girl. Sitting up and looking out the window, I begin thinking about how long I've spent awakening to morning sun coming through a massive crack in the ceiling, and wonder how Rally and the others have been doing since I've been gone.

Yellow sunlight spreads through the room through the eastern window, blossoming across the wooden floor as if the room were being consumed by the petals of a sunflower. Outside, the sky is a brilliant blue, painted with a few puffy white clouds that drift like lazy sheep through a river. Leaning over, I see that Dr. Pepper is no longer beside me—probably gone down to see whatever Mr. M is doing.

A week has passed since I was released into Mr. M's care, and each day, I've wandered the halls of his large home and crossed the beautiful lawn with an ancient tortoise at my side, and each night, as Dr. Pepper sleeps quietly in his bed beside my own… I'm beset by nightmares.

Not just the one with the golden eyes, either. New ones, no doubt brought about by the hollow feeling I have in the pit of my stomach every moment I spend in this house. Many come and go in confusing blurs, the subjects of which are barely memorable at best, but there's one… one that refuses to leave my mind, no matter how much I try to force it away.

_I cannot see anything, or anyone; I float in blackness, swimming in a sea of pure solitude. Some cold feeling in the pit of my stomach warns me that here, my heroes cannot help me. I feel strangely weightless as I drift through the endless darkness, faintly wondering if this is what it's like at the bottom of the ocean, where no sunlight reaches._

_Then the pressure starts, feeling at first like a set of comforting arms wrapping around my shoulders from behind, but quickly squeezing and squeezing until the hug becomes a crushing vice grip. And then she speaks._

"_Ben… you've finally come back to me…"_

_The voice is familiar, like Mr. M's eyes; I try but am unable to place it, though I _know_ that I've heard it many times in my life. It evokes feelings that I cannot begin to describe; something warm, certainly, but something sad too, yet those words do not even scratch the surface of how hearing her voice made me feel. _

"_They'll never… take you away from me again…" she says, the suffocating hug threatening to crush the life out of me. "You're mine. You'll always be mine…"_

_I grow lightheaded. My thoughts start slipping away from me…_

"_I WON'T LET THEM TAKE YOU FROM ME!" her voice rises from a low whisper on the wind into an angry shriek, wailing as if mortal harm were being inflicted upon her. It increases in pitch and volume until my eardrums seem to shatter, and my mind goes blank…_

…And then I wake up, each time coated in a fine film of cold sweat, breathing heavily to try and reclaim the breath stolen from me by the bone-crushing grip. I'm alone again, seemingly without even Shapeshift to keep me company for several minutes. Soon he speaks to me again, but most times my mind is too focused on the dream that just occurred to be much conversation, and he eventually gives up. I don't feel good about basically telling him to buzz off, but this dream just won't quit weighing on me.

Who is the female who speaks to me? Who do the golden eyes belong to? Why did these dreams only begin appearing after I arrived in the City?

And… why does all of this seem so familiar, and yet at the same time it's just out of my reach? All these mysteries locked deep inside my mind… I can't tell if they're actually beginning to surface, or if they're taunting me with merely the tip of a greater iceberg with no intention of revealing themselves… perhaps ever.

With these thoughts in mind, I shudder, and get out of bed to get dressed. All the while, the woman's words scream through my brain, accompanied by the pair of gleaming golden eyes.

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

"Is something the matter, Ben?" Mr. M asks me as we sit at the large dining room table. Before us lays a feast of pancakes, toast, bacon, sausage, eggs of all kinds… all served up on a dozen gleaming white plates, cooked by the old man himself. In two crystal glasses, orange juice swirls about like a wild tangerine sea. "You've hardly eaten anything."

I stare quietly down at the jelly-smeared toast in front of me, a single bite taken out of it ten minutes ago, then left alone. The dreams have been running wild through my mind in a crazed stampede, relentless and haunting.

"_They'll never take you away from me again…" _the voice whispers, cold and venomous in the back of my head.

"Ben?" Mr. M asks again, his eyes full of concern.

"I've, uh… been having dreams… bad dreams," I clarify after a moment. "Ever since I came here. To the City, I mean. I've been thinking about them nonstop… but I can't figure out what they mean."

"Hmm," Mr. M studies me for a moment, pushing a set of large glasses up his nose. They magnify his eyes, and I suddenly feel like a difficult equation being pored over by an aspiring scientist. "Dreams, you say… they can have any range of meanings, from a purely scientific perspective. Would you care to share them with me? I became quite fond of psychology in my forties, perhaps I could shed a bit of light on them."

I hesitate, but then nod slowly, taking a slow gulp of orange juice to wet my dry throat. "Alright…"

Mr. M does not move, or speak, or even seem to breathe as I retell my dreams to him in as much detail as I can muster up. His eyes stay fixed on me as I describe the golden eyes, the inky black monster with its beating wings and deathly sharp claws, the female laying claim to me… and Terra Firma, which is the only one to seemingly get some sort of reaction out of him.

"Hmm, yes, I had noticed that Terra Firma was absent from your roster," he comments rather absently, as if it only barely weighed enough on his mind to comment on it. I open my mouth to say something, but before any words come forth he explains, "Forgive me—when they handed over your deck and Duel Disk to me, I took the liberty of going through to make sure everything was there. You're missing a good few of your Fusions, actually, though I do happen to have one here."

"You do?!" I say in surprise, my chair scraping across the floor as I stand up at once. "Is it—"

"No, it's not Terra Firma," Mr. M says, a bit sadly. He looks down to the table for a moment, takes a bite of my toast, and then stands as well. "Help me get these wrapped up, if you would be so kind. We can have them for supper one night."

Dr. Pepper comes over to stand beside me, clutching a peach in his beak. His beady black eyes look up at me with some sort of understanding, and I almost feel calm with his presence beside me. I crouch down and give him a pat on the head, and then go to help Mr. M with the food and dishes.

Once the remnants of breakfast is packed away in aluminum foil and plastic wrap and our glasses of orange juice traded in for bottles of water dressed with fancy labels, Mr. M, Dr. Pepper and I retreat into the living room.

Bright and sunny, the living room is a wide carpeted space of couches and coffee tables all spreading out like arms and legs from a central armchair, facing a large flat-screen television mounted on the wall, with various boxes and box-like objects sitting on a wooden shelf beneath it. Plant life blooms throughout the room, from colorful flowers in vases on the coffee tables, to tall, leafy plants that grow in ceramic pots on the floor, some so tall that they reach toward the ceiling.

Mr. M shuffles his way across the floor and sits down in the armchair, letting out a sigh as his old bones settle into his seat. Dr. Pepper creaks slowly over to the couch to his left and in a surprising display of agility leaps up, circling like a dog a few times before laying down. Following their lead, I sit down on the right couch, sinking into the soft faux leather and kicking my legs up.

What follows next is merely an example of our morning routine.

Mr. M turns on the television and scrolls through the channels until he brings up the news, brought to us through the courtesy of a rather rude-looking woman with long blonde hair; Angela Snows, I think her name is, or something similarly stupid and weather-related. Mr. M then comments on how much he dislikes the news, but makes no attempt to change the channel. Dr. Pepper eats a vegetable tossed his way by Mr. M; today, the snack is a radish. I sit there a bit awkwardly, not sure what to say, or if I should say anything, based on how intently he seems to be focused on the news that he hates so much.

But then, the moment Ms. Weather Name signs off, he turns to me with a small smile.

"You know what I would very much like to do today, Ben?" he asks after a moment, motioning for me to stand up. "Well, be a good fellow and move these tables, if you would; move one out of the way, then the other with the ends facing the couches."

After doing what he says, he stands up, rather forcibly moves a disgruntled Dr. Pepper from the spot he had been so comfy in, and sits down at the table. He then reaches into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulls out a small red box, setting it on the coffee table. Pressing a button on the side of the table, the wooden covering in the middle sinks inward slightly, creating a small indent, and then splits down the middle, sliding back into the table. My eyes go slightly wide; I've never seen it do this before.

Before my eyes, Mr. M proudly smiles down at the miniature dueling field, complete with designated zones for monsters, backrow cards, the Fusion deck, and the main deck. Black on white, it almost looks like a chalk drawing on the asphalt of a playground.

"Do an old man a kindness and duel him," Mr. M says, the proud smile working its way into an excited grin as he places his main deck in the zone. "It's been a very long time since I've had anyone here to duel except Dr. Pepper, and he's getting rather predictable in his old age."

Dr. Pepper huffs indignantly at this, but remains otherwise motionless.

Reaching into my pockets, I feel the cards moving about loosely and unprotected. Running my fingers across the backs, I glance somewhat guiltily at the red box he kept his cards in; perhaps I should get something like that… though in blue, I think. Removing the main deck and Fusion deck from my pocket, I place them in the zones as well.

A second button push from the old man, and multicolored lights begin to chase one another around the edges of the little arena. "It's been far too long since we've last dueled… but maybe it will help you recall something. Since this is my house, I'll be taking the first move!"

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Mr. M: 4000 LP**_

As per usual, we each draw five cards. My arm feels oddly flimsy without the weight of the Duel Disk attached to it, and my legs shake a bit involuntarily in absence of a Duel Runner beneath them.

"Oh—and in addition, if you can manage to defeat me, I'll be handing over that Fusion monster I mentioned!" Mr. M adds on, his posture changing from a bent elderly man to something resembling a proud young duelist in his prime. He makes a bit of a show out of drawing his next card, adding a powerful flourish that one his age shouldn't be capable of. "Allow me to give you a bit of a chemistry lesson, my friend, on behalf of Chemicritter Hydron Hawk!"

He places the card onto the table in front of him, and in a flash of light, a blue hawk appears, about the size of a small toy. Angles, curves and crystals seem to make up the transparent, but slightly blue-tinted body of the winged creature, and as it snaps its beak together ferociously, flexing its talons and beating its wings, I can see an angular H presented on its chest, and behind that I spot blue and red orbs floating about in pairs of one blue and one red. **(Chemicritter Hydron Hawk: Level 2, WATER, Winged-Beast-type/Gemini; 1400 ATK/700 DEF)**

As the card's stats are revealed on what I now realize is actually a screen rather than a tabletop, I scrunch my face up in a bit of a frown. "A Gemini monster?" I ask, recalling one of the thugs in the Satellite who had used such monsters.

"Indeed! Each of my Chemicritters is a Gemini!" Mr. M explains. "But don't underestimate them; I know that there's a bit of a stigma, but they've served me perfectly well over the years."

"I see," I respond, not quite sure if I believe that. The Gemini monster is extremely slow; in order to get its effects, it must be Normal Summoned a second time, depleting your summon for the turn, implying it even survives that long to begin with.

"But, instead of showing you their true potential this turn, I do believe that I'll place two cards face-down and hand the reins to you," he states, and just like with the monster, as he places the face-downs on the field, the cards appear floating in midair just like they would if we were using Duel Disks.

"My move, then! I'll draw!" As I take the card from the top of my deck, I feel a wave of nostalgia running through me, invigorating me. A smile comes across my face as my eyes sweep across the hand I've drawn.

Voltic, Stratos and Poison Rose make up the monsters I have to choose from, with a catalogue of two copies of Hero Barrier and a Hero Pressure to supplement them. Feeling my hand working on its own, I quickly place Stratos onto the field.

"Here comes Elemental Hero Stratos, the man with the fans!" I declare, feeling that last part slip out before I even thought of it.

Stratos zooms onto the field from seemingly nowhere, his entrance covered by a flash of light as the projector does its work. As his turbines spin and he hovers in midair, I can't help but see him as an action figure, with posable arms and legs and fans that really spin if you press a button a certain number of times. Though he's so much smaller than the form I'm used to seeing him in, there's a certain confidence that comes over me with his presence. **(Elemental Hero Stratos: Level 4, WIND, Warrior-type; 1800 ATK/200 DEF)**

"Ah, Stratos! I hadn't expected to see him quite so early," Mr. M comments, resting his chin on his hands as he studies myself and my cards. "Very good—I'm assuming that you'll be using his effect to add a monster?"

"Er, yes," I say awkwardly, having been prepared to explain the effect myself. "How did you—"

"Know? Ben, my boy, I've known you practically your whole life—I know the ins and outs of your deck better than any other!" Mr. M declares passionately, leaving me with a sense of regret at having accepted his challenge.

"Right… well, I think I'll pick… Elemental Hero Knospe!" I continue. I pause in thought, wondering why I had said that, but keep feeling my eyes drawn toward Poison Rose; something is compelling me to bring her out.

"An interesting choice. Planning to summon Gaia, perhaps?"

I freeze, but only for a moment. No one in the Satellite, or even among the Securities seemed to have any concept of what my Heroes could do, but then this man can predict any move I make?

_It shouldn't be that surprising, _I tell myself. _He said it himself—he looked through the deck when he got it from the Securities._

_It's more than just that, he already knew your deck—he knew that the Boss was missing, remember? _Shapeshift interjects. I attempt to press him further, but he doesn't speak after that.

"Could be Gaia. Could be Great Tornado. Maybe something completely different," I suggest, hoping that I might be able to throw him off his guard. "Who knows? But what I do know is that Stratos is going to attack Hydron Hawk! Cyclone Scythe!"

Just as Stratos's turbines begin to spin at speeds so quick they seem to disappear, Mr. M holds up a single long, spindly finger in response.

"Allow me to stop you there—with my Trap Card, Burnout!" He exclaims, flipping one of his face-down cards face-up, with the hologram opening up in response. "By removing from play a Chemicritter on my side of the field, I can Special Summon two more from my deck with different names from the removed monster! Farewell, Hydron Hawk—in your place, I shall be calling upon Chemicritter Oxy Ox and Chemicritter Carbo Crab, each in defense mode!"

In a brilliant burst of multicolored light, the crystalline hawk seems to vanish as Mr. M removes the card from the field and sets it off to the side of the table. After taking a moment to search his deck, then allowing me to cut it and shuffle, he places two new monsters on the field.

Both are similar in appearance to their hydrogen-based brother; angular, crystalline and transparent, though with a colored tinge based on their attribute.

Oxy Ox is the first to appear, a green-tinted ox with its glasslike face designed in a permanent frown, an O etched on its head between two fiery horns. Underneath its transparent outer layers, green and orange orbs work together, all connected throughout the body. It stamps a forest-green hoof and snorts at me, ready for a charge. **(Chemicritter Oxy Ox: Level 2, WIND, Beast-type/Gemini; 0 ATK/2100 DEF)**

As a FIRE monster, Carbo Crab is largely an orange crab, its glassy skin brightly tinted. Six legs scuttle about restlessly, gray eyes like marbles staring out at me as it clicks its two pincers, one larger than the other, sharp and jagged like a rock. A network of blue orbs webs its way through the creature's body, branching out around a large C. **(Chemicritter Carbo Crab: Level 2, FIRE, Aqua-type/Gemini; 700 ATK/1400 DEF)**

"Damn… that's a good trap you have there," I find myself complimenting, already eating my words somewhat at my previous contempt for Geminis. "But it's not enough to save Carbo Crab! Go on, Stratos!"

This time there is no card played by Mr. M to come to the crab's rescue. Spinning with the ferocious roar of a jet engine, twin tornadoes spin their way out of Stratos's wings, staggering across the field with deadly, ripping winds. Converging on the crab, they join together to form one powerful cyclone that tears the monster to shreds before Stratos's turbines settle and the tornadoes disappear without a trace.

"It's a shame you weren't able to destroy Oxy Ox, he is the real threat," Mr. M comments… was that a taunt? I hadn't been expecting something like that out of this kindly old man.

"From there, I'll set three face-downs and end my turn!" I decide, setting the two Hero Barriers and one Hero Pressure. Unlike decks I faced in the Satellite, there seems to be some synergy between the cards; I can't be too careful.

"I draw!" That flourish again; there's something about it that seems… oddly familiar as I see it again. One fluid movement, taking the card from the top of his deck and then extending his arm fully into a straight line… but where have I seen it before? "Next, I'll be Gemini Summoning Oxy Ox—which gives him the effect which will bring about your doom! Thanks to him, once per turn I can Special Summon a Gemini monster from my hand, though it won't have its effects yet."

"A free summon, just like that?" I blurt out, shocked by this ability. Though the lack of the summoned monster's effect counted for something, there should have been some sort of cost, right?

"Quite so, old friend!" Mr. M responds. "I'll be summoning Poly-Chemicritter Dioxogre, the fiend of carbon dioxide!"

In reference to its status being a combination of carbon and oxygen, the summoned beast seems to be a mix of Carbo Crab and Oxy Ox, with the jagged, but even sharper-looking claw of the crab, and the hooves and horns of the ox. Its body appears to be a solid color, though the hologram has it constantly changing; on its front, a C in the vein of Carbo Crab's can be seen, with one of Oxy Ox's Os attached to it diagonally on either side. The face of the cretin is hideous, and a bit terrifying, with an elongated snout filled with sharp, daggerlike teeth that stick out in all directions like broken spears. Staring, slanted white eyes glare emotionlessly at me, as a man of wild bluish hair bursts out from between the horns and climbs down its back. A single pointed horn rests between the two ox horns, gleaming white like the beast's teeth, and a long, whip-like tail thrashes this way and that as the creature stares me down. **(Poly-Chemicritter Dioxogre: Level 8, DARK, Fiend-type/Gemini; 2800 ATK/200 DEF)**

"How do you like this one, Ben? As I recall, you were rather fond of chemistry in school…" Mr. M muses. "It's quite lucky that I drew this, actually, or else I'd have nothing particularly helpful to summon through Oxy Ox's effect."

"Is that so…" I say, a bit put off by the sudden powerful summon. "Well, I can't say I like chemistry much anymore. Your monsters have seen to that."

He spreads his hands, a playful grin coming onto his wrinkled face. His eyes shine brightly with a sort of joy I haven't seen since coming to live with him. "Oh, come now Ben! You'll hurt their feelings if you say that too loudly—and when Dioxogre's feelings are hurt, his effect just might activate! By Gemini Summoning him, I can remove from play one Gemini monster from my Graveyard, then destroy any one card you control!"

I scowl slightly, trying to think of what he might choose. He said that he had looked at my deck when I was released to make sure there wasn't anything missing; that means he knows I could have Hero Barrier, and how many I play, as well as Hero Pressure and any number of the other magic and traps I have in my arsenal. And of course… most of these cards are reliant on having a Hero on the field.

"By removing my Chemicritter Carbo Crab from the game, I shall destroy your Stratos!"

Suddenly, a play comes to mind, the memory of a ruling I learned when I first began dueling. "Stratos may be going, but that doesn't mean you'll have a direct attack on me! I activate Hero Barrier! As long as I have an Elemental Hero monster on the field, I can resolve its effect to negate an attack this turn!"

The swirling blue barrier forms in front of me, a tall wall of rippling energy that looks more like the downpour of a powerful waterfall. Through the hologram, I give Mr. M a small grin of my own.

"Don't look so smug, old chum, did you forget that I have two monsters on my field?" Mr. M remarks, sweeping his hands across the two small holograms that sit as still as toys in front of him. "I'll switch Oxy Ox to attack position, and then have him attack to bring down your Hero Barrier!"

The small ox lowers the front of its body into a crouch, the fires of its antlers blazing brightly. Pawing at the ground with one hoof, much like a bull about to charge, it lunges forward, dashing across the table and thrusting the flaming horns directly into my wall. A spiderweb of brilliantly white cracks work their way up the barrier, and finally with a surprisingly loud crack, it shatters like glass.

"Which will leave you right open for a direct attack from Dioxogre!" Mr. M bellows, throwing his hand out in front of him. His voice sounds surprisingly young as he declares his attack, his movements youthful as if this duel were rejuvenating him. "Go, Poly-Chemicritter Dioxogre! Carbon Crunch!"

The fiend pulls its arms back behind it, throwing its head back in an angry roar. Its body radiates with energy, the torso flashing between transparent and solid, giving me glimpses of rapidly moving molecules on the inside, bouncing around like an army of flies trying to escape a sealed room. Lowering its ugly face, it opens its mouth and shoots a burst of green and red fire at me, which rockets across the table and strikes me square in the chest. It doesn't hurt near as much as it likely would if it were a full-sized duel, but there's still a stinging pain in the center of my solar plexus left behind as I watch my Life Points drop on the table's display.

_**Ben: 1200 LP / Mr. M: 4000 LP**_

I grimace, lightly patting at the spot where the creature's attack struck me. I hadn't been expecting him to switch his 0 ATK Oxy Ox into attack position just to break my Barrier… but then, he knows my deck well. Stratos is one of the strongest monsters I can Normal Summon; if I tried with anything else, even if I destroyed his Ox, a single attack from Dioxogre would deplete my Life Points, whether he used the effect or not. And of course, there's still that second facedown… perhaps a second Burnout? Or something even worse?

"My goodness, Ben, you've gotten rusty since we last dueled. My first attack, and you're already set to lose!" Mr. M teases, shuffling his cards around in his hand. "Well, I'll be ending my turn there. I wonder, can you make a comeback from this?"

A sense of competitiveness rises in me, bubbling in my stomach and then shooting up through my chest and into my brain. Before the words even register in my mind, I'm calling back, "Don't you worry about me—you should know I like a handicap like this! I draw!"

_Expecting to see me, big guy?_ The voice chimes in as I take the top card from my deck. The burst of playful laughter comes soon after, and a smile spreads across my face as I see the card I've drawn.

"And here's my retaliation! I summon Elemental Hero Shapeshift, in attack mode!"

As the card is placed on the field, Mr. M's eyes go slightly wide, the grin dropping from his face for a moment.

With an acrobatic leap, Shapeshift springs onto the field, placing his hands on his hips proudly and sticking out his chest as he stares at Mr. M and the monsters before him. Thin and gaunt with a mop of brown hair resting upon his head and fanning down over smirking face, and clad in a yellow jumpsuit with streaks of blue running up and down its sides, there's an odd sort of power that radiates from him. **(Elemental Hero Shapeshift: Level 1, DARK, Warrior-type; 0 ATK/0 DEF)**

"Time for the fun to REALLY begin," I state, my own face now sharing a smirk with Shapeshift.

* * *

**AND THAT'S A WRAP! I apologize for the sudden ending… well, no, not really, I intended for this to be a two-parter actually. BUT! We're finally seeing Ben's first duel in the City—and finally getting to see the mysterious Shapeshift in battle! We've also gotten a rather… disturbing new dream to look into. I wonder who this female is? And just who is Mr. M, with his crazy Chemicritters and his knowledge of Ben's past? Can Shapeshift really turn the tide of the duel, like Ben thinks he can?! **

…**Of course, I know the answers to these, and you don't. Or at least, hopefully you don't, I'm not ready to become so predictable yet. **

**Anyway, won't take up too much of your time here. If you think you're starting to figure anything out, message me if you want! I can tell you if you're right, if you really want me to spoil things, or I can tell you if you're wrong. Or both. Hopefully the wait between chapters wasn't too long, and I hope that you all enjoyed the rewritten ninth chapter! There was a pretty clear winner in the vote, there were only I think two or three that voted to have Ben go to the Facility. Hope you guys weren't too mad, and that this progressing story is making up for it!**

**As always—take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE, and of course, stay healthy out there!**

**~Chase**


	11. Chapter 11: Mr M - Part 2

**Chapter 11 – Mr. M and His Funky Molecules, Part 2**

* * *

"Take the field, Shapeshift!" I declare as my mental companion somersaults onto the field, striking a confident pose in the face of the Chemicritter horde. Covering his face with his left hand, he raises his head up to face the ceiling while holding out his right hand in a "Stop!" gesture.

**(Elemental Hero Shapeshift: Level 1, DARK, Warrior-type; 0 ATK/0 DEF)**

_Let's do this Ben! Hit them with my special effect!_ Shapeshift suggests, his voice echoing in my mind louder than normal.

"Shapeshift… he's the one that you created, isn't he? I can't recall you ever using him against me," Mr. M comments with a soft whistle of admiration. This, of course, only manages to make Shapeshift's ego grow even further, causing him to do a small dance that involves moving his arms like they're waves. "That must be some effect, to put a monster with zero ATK on the field."

"It is!" I reply, though in all actuality I do not recall just what Shapeshift's effect is, so perhaps my voice doesn't betray a sense of complete confidence. Raising my hand, I call out, "Alright, Shapeshift! Hit him with your effect!"

…

…

Nothing happens.

_You have to describe it, boss,_ Shapeshift whispers. _You remember what it is, right?_

_Of course I remember!_ I respond, although of course I do not remember—though before I can argue with him further, I feel the words coming to mind without even realizing. "Using Shapeshift's effect, I can target one monster on your side of the field, and if I do, Shapeshift gains ATK, DEF, and a level to match your monster's! Oh, and then he can't be destroyed by battle while this effect is active! Go on, Shapeshift, morph into his Dioxogre!"

With a loud snicker, Shapeshift's body begins to transform, soon becoming a mirror image of the fiend that Mr. M controls, albeit with a slight yellow tint on its body. And, of course, rather than mimicking the monster's stern, still pose, Shapeshift begins to do his dance again—which looks rather weird coming from a muscular fiend like Dioxogre. **(Elemental Hero Shapeshift: Level 8, DARK, Warrior-type; 2800 ATK/2000 DEF)**

"Alright, Shapeshift, time to give Dioxogre a taste of its own medicine! Oxygen Eraser!" I command, feeling a rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins as I sit on this faux-leather couch across from an old man while holograms the size of toys fight to the death for our amusement.

Shapeshift-Ogre ceases his dance and instead channels the flames from his horns into a massive ball of flames. The orange orb swirls and spits as he hurls it, sending off sparks in every direction as it hurtles toward Dioxogre. It won't take down Mr. M's Life Points at all, but as long as that big guy is out of the way…

"Stop right there, old chum! I'll activate a second copy of Burnout!" Mr. M states, revealing the facedown. "By removing Dioxogre from play, I'll be summoning Chemicritters Argo Alligator and Heli Hound!"

As Dioxogre swirls away into nothingness, in its place appear the silhouettes of two monsters. Once the dust clears, I can see clearly an alligator and a dog, of the Great Dane breed I believe. The alligator is outlined in a faint purple glow, transparent and crystalline with sharp-looking ridges lining its back, and a long tail that, despite the known strength of the beast, looks as if it could shatter with one wrong touch. Similarly, the dog stands tall and noble, its chin held high in the air with its tail long and straight, pointed like an arrow toward the ceiling; a faint orange-red glow runs through it, with the molecules bouncing around wildly inside both of them. **(Chemicritter Argo Alligator: Level 6, DARK, Reptile-type; 2300 ATK/500 DEF) (Chemicritter Heli Hound: Level 3, FIRE, Beast-type; 1600 ATK/1600 DEF)**

The moment Dioxogre disappears from the field, Shapeshift begins to return to normal. The bulging muscles of the ogre unwind themselves, his arms shrinking from the size of thick pipes back down to the regular, slightly noodle-like arms Shapeshift normally possesses. His dark hair returns, covering his face which holds a look of slight shame. _Sorry, Ben… _I hear him say as his stats drop back down. **(Elemental Hero Shapeshift: Level 1, DARK, Warrior-type; 0 ATK/0 DEF)**

I grimace inwardly; how could I have forgotten this part? "Unfortunately… when the target that Shapeshift is mimicking is removed from the field, he returns to his normal form. You've saved yourself for another turn, Mr. M," I say, already working out my next turn; Hero Barrier should save me from at least one attack, although… there's two monsters with actual ATK, and even then he can just use Oxy Ox again.

_This isn't looking good…_

* * *

_**[Cue in opening theme: "Imagination" by Caleb Hyles feat. Gareth West (English cover of the first opening for Haikyuu!)]**_

_**As the sweat rolls down my face, sweltering heat comes in waves**_

We open on a shot of Ben's face, staring up at the sky as the shadow of a cloud passes over his face. As the cloud drifts past and the sun beams down on his face again, he begins to smile.

_**I hear our voices echo, as we're standing side by side!**_

The camera begins to zoom outward, revealing that standing in a circle around Ben is each of the Omni-Heroes; in no particular order, Escuridão, Great Tornado, Absolute Zero, Nova Master, Gaia, and The Shining.

_**An open window lets in light, I turn my eyes up to the sky,**_

Now the camera shoots down to the ground, looking up at the assembled group of heroes and their leader as the urban sprawl of Skyscraper shoots up above them

_**Questionings if to someone will come our way, Mr. Future**_

Ben's face focuses in on the camera as we see the shadow of someone's legs stepping in front of us. We can see Ben grin as his heroes fall in line beside him.

_(__**Oh come on, come on) If there is still a chance…**_

A sudden swift upward shift from the camera, and we're viewing Ben and his heroes from above, and in the shadows of Skyscraper, dark figures begin to form, faceless phantoms that stand to oppose our hero.

_**(Oh come on, come on) Go and get… it!**_

Taking the first step, Ben leads the charge as his heroes run forward at the shadow figures. Great Tornado streaks through the sky, a bright green wind trailing behind him as The Shining appears alongside him, bright light emanating from his body. Absolute Zero and Nova run right beside Ben, leaving trails of ice and fire in their tracks, respectively, while Gaia stomps alongside, and Escuridão dodges from shadow to shadow, as dark as darkness itself. Just as they reach the figures and begin to fight, a bright light suddenly consumes the screen.

_**You can't move me, you can't break me!**_

The light dissipates and shows the heroes at battle. First, we see The Shining lashing out for a punch, his fist enclosed in a blinding bright aura as it smashes into the stomach of Crab Turtle. Next we see Great Tornado blasting away a slew of Spellcaster monsters, namely Endymion and Breaker, among others.

_**You will always look right through me!**_

Nova Master appears on screen next, its full body aflame as it lunges toward Frost and Flame Dragon, Absolute Zero combatting the Flame half as Nova Master prepares to strike the Frost half.

_**I will falter, I will stumble, but I'll keep on suffering!**_

Gaia raises a massive boulder above its head, hurling it at Doom Dozer as the insect is restrained by shadow tendrils courtesy of Escuridão.

_**Never give up, never give in—I can't let it end in failure!**_

We spin to view Ben now, his fist clenched in anticipation as we begin to rotate, revealing that all the battles are going on simultaneously. Finally tired of seeing his heroes fight at his command, he charges into the fray as well—focusing specifically on one shadow figure.

_**Oh, my imagination's fighting to believe—**_

Ben throws a punch of his own as he reaches the character, the air around his fist blurring as he strikes mere shadow—though as the figure disappears, we get a sudden glimpse of gray hair…

_**Believing in something!**_

The shadows, Skyscraper, and the heroes all disappear at once, leaving Ben standing in the subway tunnel with Rally and the rest of the Satellite crew, looking at him hopefully.

_**Oh-oh! Believing in something!**_

Ben mounts his Duel Runner, pulling his helmet on and giving them a grin.

_**Oh-oh!**_

And on the last note, he speeds off down the tunnel, the shot fading to grayscale on his friends waving him off. The title, "Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time" appears in bright gold lettering, standing out against the gray as the form of the Crimson Dragon wraps around it.

* * *

_Don't give up!_ Shapeshift interjects, looking back at me with a look of determination in his tiny eyes. _We can still do this. Just remember my effects!_

_Easier said than done,_ I remark offhandedly, seeing as I didn't even remember his effect until now. Besides, what good will it do me on Mr. M's turn?

Unless…

_THERE WE GO! YOU'VE GOT IT!_ Shapeshift howls triumphantly, throwing his head back and pumping his fist into the sky.

"Your monster is much more animated than a normal hologram," Mr. M comments.

"Oh. Er… yes, I suppose he is," I reply, not really sure how I'm supposed to respond to that. With Mr. M's apparent intelligence, I don't know what I could even say to explain it. "Anyway, I'll be ending my turn there. You're up, Mr. M!"

"Thank you, Ben. I draw!" Mr. M draws a card from the top of his deck, and begins to grin in a rather unpleasant manner. "This is going to be what _really_ brings about my victory. I activate the Field Spell, Catalyst Field!"

As he places the card into the Field Zone, rather than the world around us shifting to resemble the environment portrayed on the card, it's the previously blank screen of the table that changes. It starts as a pattern of hexagons crossing its way across the field, deep blue and purple covering the blackness of the field. Soon, the tiny orbs present in each of the Chemicritter monsters begin to bounce about at rapid speeds, some smashing together to create explosive shockwaves, others joining and beginning the dance anew. Color swirls all around, every shade and hue clashing and retreating in a battle of dominance.

"While this card is on my field, I can Normal Summon a Level 5 or higher Gemini monster without tributing, and in addition to my usual Normal Summon, I can Normal Summon an additional Gemini monster!" Mr. M explains, the corners of his eyes crinkling with pride as he begins to grin. "Allow me to begin your downfall by activating the effect of my Oxy Ox, in order to Special Summon my Poly-Chemicritter Hydragon from my Hand in defense mode!"

Clustered around a large, frost-white central body, five transparent bluish heads attached to long necks thrash and flail about, their jaws snapping, green and blue heterochromatic sweeping across the field in surveying glances. Inside their barely see-through body, which is solid and sturdy unlike the relatively fragile look of many of the other Chemicritters, blue and green orbs are linked together, bouncing around rapidly. H-O-H are etched angularly across its broad chest, and outside of the main body, gradients of blue and green tint the hard glass-like skin. **(Poly-Chemicritter Hydragon: Level 8, WATER, Dragon-type/Gemini; 200 ATK/2800 DEF)**

"200 ATK?" I question, furrowing my brow in response.

Mr. M waves his hand. "No need to worry about that, my friend, it is the effect that is important—which I'll gain by Gemini Summoning my Hydragon! Now, whenever a Gemini monster is Normal Summoned, I can have it gain 500 ATK and DEF—and if you try to destroy a Gemini with a card effect, I can destroy another card I control instead. Water can be quite the useful chemical, eh, Ben?"

"Useful." I agree flatly, feeling a surge of annoyance at the potential of this deck. My eyes lock with the miniature Hydragon—and a shock of pain surges through my mind, strong enough to make me squeeze my eyes shut and lean forward, putting my head in my hand. "Ah!"

"Ben?" Mr. M says, concern lacing his voice. I can hear the faux leather of the couch squeak as he stands up, and further squeaking at what must be Dr. Pepper rising at a surprisingly quick pace.

The sting stabs deep into my brain, like the stinger of a hornet being driven relentlessly into my hippocampus. It lingers only for a moment, but in return gives me only a little bit of memory back. As the pain subsides, and my eyes slide open again, I look up to see Mr. M and Dr. Pepper both standing.

I give Mr. M a small, pained smile. "You… played a different deck the last time we dueled…" I say, sitting up straight and shaking my head to try and clear out my mind. "Much different. Did losing to me so much make you change, Mr. M?"

The old man studies me for a moment, probably trying to guess at just how much I remembered. After a moment, he smiles back at me, and as he speaks, the tiniest hint of an accent slips into his voice. "Well, you were certainly a catalyst in your own way, my young friend. But I think I've finally got you knackered this time."

"Don't be so sure. Remember, I can always use Shapeshift's ability to make him as powerful as your strongest monster," I remind him. _And, of course, there's Hero Barrier in case you can pull anything else. _

"But will that be enough?" Mr. M inquires, tapping his chin playfully. "I don't think so, personally. I Gemini Summon Chemicritter Argo Alligator! Through his effect, whenever he battles a monster, both he and the attacked monster are removed from play at the end of the Damage Step—and, I'll also use Hydragon's effect to give him an extra 500 ATK and DEF! Go on, Argo Alligator, give Shapeshift a taste of your Death Roll!" **(Chemicritter Argo Alligator: 2800 ATK/1000 DEF)**

The small alligator takes a couple of hesitant steps before breaking into a run, making a beeline straight for Shapeshift. I frown a little as I flip up my trap card; I hadn't wanted to use it so soon.

"I activate Hero Barrier, to negate your Alligator's attack! Shapeshift will be sticking around for a while to come!"

As the alligator leaps through the air toward my hero, Shapeshift is surrounded by a swirling blue orb of energy, which tosses the Chemicritter back the moment it touches. It soon dissipates, and Shapeshift remains safe.

"Now, to make sure you don't try anything else, I'll be using Shapeshift's effect to change him into your Argo Alligator!" I say proudly.

In response, Shapeshift begins to morph once more, taking the form of Argo Alligator, albeit with a slightly darker tone to its glassy, angular skin. There's also a mischievous look in his reptilian eyes, and his powerful jaws seem to be quirked upward in a slight grin. **(Elemental Hero Shapeshift: Level 6, DARK, Warrior-type; 2800 ATK/1000 DEF)**

"Well done. I hadn't prepared for a second Hero Barrier," Mr. M remarks. "There's little else I can do this turn; I'll set one card face-down and end things there."

"I thought you mentioned you knew the ins and outs of my deck?" I reply. "Draw!"

"Oh, I do. Perhaps better than you do, until you regain your memories," he replies offhandedly. "But worry not about me, I know perfectly well what I'm doing. Look to your own cards and consider whether or not you can defeat me."

Something about his words truly irks me. Perhaps it's the airy familiarity with which he speaks them, or the implication that he knows my deck better than I do, or the almost fatherly chiding that goes along with the suggestion that I pay attention to my own cards and quit trash talking, but whatever it is _annoys the hell out of me._

Looking down to the card I drew, I realize that Polymerization has come into my possession. I can't keep the grin from my face as I lay it onto the field. "By activating Polymerization, as I'm sure you're so well aware, I can Fusion Summon one of my Heroes!"

The look on Mr. M's face is one of amusement, as if he's watching a TV show that does not star that annoying news reporter he had been complaining about. "Oh yes, do continue."

_GAH! How can he stay so cool during this?! _Shapeshift fumes in my mind. _This is maddening! It's like he's trying to mess with our heads!_

_My head._

_Still! You value my input. Your head and half of mine._

_A third._

_Quarter. Now let's stop, as this is getting rather silly, _I say finally.

"Well, I believe that I'll stop you for a moment, Ben. I activate my face-down card, the Spell Hand Destruction! Both of us discard two cards from our Hands, then we draw two more to replace them," Mr. M explains, sending two of the cards in his hand to the graveyard pile, then drawing two more.

Hesitantly, I send Poison Rose and Voltic to the graveyard—which admittedly puts a little bit of a damper on my plans to Fusion Summon. For my two new cards, I draw a second copy of Polymerization, and luckily, Ice Edge. "You almost ruined my little scheme there, Mr. M, but it seems I've gotten lucky! I fuse my Elemental Heroes Knospe and Ice Edge in my Hand in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Gaia!"

Without the visual spectacle of the two monsters swirling away into a spinning vortex, the summon of Gaia is heralded with little fanfare outside the nice little rumbles that the table gives off as he stomps his way onto the scene. At this much smaller scale, he still stands tall over the rest, a symbol of justice, firm and proud like a member of the Terracotta Army—if the Terracotta Army had been made into action figures, of course. **(Elemental Hero Gaia: Level 6, EARTH, Warrior-type; 2200 ATK/2600 DEF)**

"And there he is," Mr. M says admiringly, looking as if he were about to reach out and touch the living boulder. "I had been wondering who you would first summon; I suppose it's my own bad luck that you drew Polymerization."

"That's right! And since you're so familiar with my deck, then you'll no doubt know what Gaia can do with his own effect. I'll be using Stone Splitter to cut Argo Alligator down to size!"

Breaking off a piece of rock from his shoulder, Gaia hurls it across the playing field toward the crystalline alligator. It seems to slice clean through, leaving only a tiny web of cracks where it entered. **(Argo Alligator: 2800 ATK – 1400 ATK. Gaia: 2200 ATK – 3600 ATK)**

As the table displays the increase and decrease in stats, I feel a building sense of excitement swelling up inside of me, the same sort of anticipation that one feels when they realize they are on the cusp of victory. No backrow to defend against me… and a 0 ATK monster on the field, in attack position no less. It's over.

"Go on, Gaia! Crush his Oxy Ox with your Stone Age Smackdown!"

Lumbering forward on its great, powerful legs, once it reaches the halfway point Gaia leaps into the air. Doing several twists in midair that shouldn't be possible for a creature its size and weight, Gaia finds himself upside-down with his thick stony legs extended. As it cuts through the air and closes the gap between it and Oxy Ox, it axes his legs downward and practically stomps the chemical ox out of existence.

_**Ben: 1200 LP / Mr. M: 400 LP**_

A smile comes across Mr. M's face.

"Go on, Shapeshift! Hit his Argo Alligator with a Death Roll!"

_You got it, Boss!_ Shapeshift replies, lunging at the Chemicritter, spinning all the way like an arrow. His jaws clench shut, focused directly at Argo Alligator to almost complete the illusion of a spinning arrow. He impacts, and the creature shatters like the glass it appears to be made of.

_**Ben: 1200 LP / Mr. M: 0 LP**_

The Chemicritters begin disappearing at once, but it takes a moment before my Heroes begin to vanish. Mr. M starts to collect his cards, seemingly not paying attention to the apparent holograms moving to stand directly in front of me; Shapeshift returns to his usual form and gives me a thumbs up before fading away, and Gaia gives me a low bow.

"You did well, Ben." Mr. M comments, packing his cards away back into the little red box. Setting it off to the side, he stands up and leans across the table to offer me his hand. "Shake an old man's hand, won't you? My losing streak may not have ended yet, but we must still show one another respect."

I feel weirdly obligated to honor his request, though as I stand up and take hold of his hand, the strength and warmth I feel reminds me of something I cannot yet place; a feeling, or a person perhaps? Possibly Mr. M's true identity? We shake, and release, and I sit back down to pick up my cards.

Removing my Fusion Deck and hand from the duel field part of the table, I move to collect my deck, only to clumsily spill some of the cards across the table. "Oh, I'm sorry," I apologize quickly, hurrying to pick up the mess I've made.

_Ben, WAIT! Don't—_ Shapeshift begins to shout in my mind as I place my hand on the top card of my deck. Despite his warnings, however, something compels me to flip it over and look at it.

"It's… blank?" I say softly.

The card in question is indeed blank, at least where the artwork should be, though I can tell that it is meant to be a monster of some sort. It bears the orangish coloring of an effect monster, though where the portrait should be is a white space, like a blank canvas. The name and text box are all blank, and where the stats should be, it is simply [blank] / [blank].

"What…" I say, feeling my focus drawn solely to that card.

_BEN!_ Shapeshift screams.

I find myself staring, and leaning toward the card. I hear Mr. M speaking, and Shapeshift speaking, and… a third person speaking…

…third person…

…who? Where?

And then, my consciousness fades.

* * *

"Ben!" Mr. M shouts as the young man collapses onto the table, splashing his cards about onto the field. He leaps to his feet in a surprising display of agility for his age and hurries over, beginning to shake the young man to try and wake him. When he gets no response, he then feels for a pulse, worried that he might have lost him again. He sighs in relief as he finds it, however. "Thank God…"

His aged back creaks as he bends down to pick the boy up, but he eventually has him stood up, an arm draped over his shoulder. It's slow going as they begin the walk from the living room to the stairs, and then even slower as they climb up to his room. By the time Mr. M lays Ben down on his bed, his ancient muscles are screaming.

"Ah… I thought I was in better shape than that," he says softly. He looks over to the door as Dr. Pepper creeps in, the tortoise settling himself down on the little bed on the floor next to Ben's. "So, my friend, how does it feel to see him again?"

Dr. Pepper stares at him.

"You were so much more talkative before Ben came back," Mr. M sighs, casting another look over his shoulder to the boy. "Keep an eye on him, won't you? I'll see to his cards."

Stare.

"…Right…" Mr. M says, awkwardly sliding out of the room to get away from the tortoise's gaze. He slowly makes his way back downstairs and into the living room, to the table with all the cards tossed about on it, and begins gathering them all up once more. His hand lingers on the card that Ben had been so fixated on, and he brings it up to his eyes to get a good look at it.

"Don Zaloog? I didn't put that in there," he mutters to himself curiously, before packing it in with the rest of the cards. "Oh, Dr. Pepper… quite the sneak you are."

He then sees Shapeshift, alone on the playing field. Taking the card up in his hands, Mr. M sweeps his gaze over it, many, many memories flooding back to his mind of days long since passed. "You've kept watch over him all these years, haven't you? Whether he realized it or not. All of you have…"

Mr. M walks over to an old fireplace built into the back wall of the room, opposite the television. Upon the mantle, there rest several framed pictures; he browses each of them with a slight mist in his eyes, all of them holding memories of the past, but stops in front of one specific one.

The edges are a bit burnt, as if it had been plucked from a fire, and then cut almost perfectly in half. The picture has yellowed a bit from apparent age, or perhaps other outside influences, but the subject of the image is still clear enough, at least the part of the subject in this half of the portrait.

"Ben…" Mr. M says quietly, a tear rolling down his cheek as he looks at the photo.

Indeed, shown in that image is Ben, or at least someone who looks like Ben. The hair is the same, messy and dark brown; the eyes shine brightly, a bit grayer than usual but of a similar shape; and that confident, yet somehow still goofy grin… but instead of the clothes he had been wearing upon his return to New Domino City, in this image, the person wears a yellow jacket.

* * *

**AND THERE WE SHALL END IT! Perhaps a bit of an anticlimactic end to the duel, but as Mr. M had mentioned, Ben's missing a lot of his Fusion monsters, so we might not be seeing everything he has up his sleeves yet ;) Anyways, how about that ending? What's up with Don Zaloog, why was the card blank, and why does Mr. M think that a tortoise put him in Ben's deck? Who is the person in the battered photograph? Was this really the extent of Mr. M's skills? (I'll go ahead and answer that—no.)**

**Keep the theories coming guys, I love reading them! Now, to address a few reviews left for me~**

**Raidentensho: Never said that the person in his dreams was Aki, did I ;)** **I'll go ahead and say that it's not her, Akiza is definitely not a yandere. This woman is a part of the 'baggage' I mentioned at the beginning of the story as kind of a roadblock for Ben and Akiza's eventual relationship. But, I will say that she and Mr. M have some sort of link to one another.**

**Time Thief: Unfortunately, it's been an INCREDIBLY long time since I last played Majora's Mask, far too long actually, so I admittedly am not sure what you think is the reference, but I can promise you it's not. And you're sensing the kinda GX-ish themes too, yeah? Good to know ;)**

**(I feel disgusted with myself for how many times I've used the winky face in this A/N. Ugh.)**

**So that's where we're going to call it today. New chapter, hopefully within the next two weeks. Maybe we'll start wrapping up mysteries? Maybe not. **

**But, as always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, stay healthy, and PEACE~**

**~Chase**

**(P.S. Apologies if this chapter seems a little bit off or anything. We're supposed to be moving back home to the States in a few months, but who knows what the hell is going to happen with COVID, but still my wife and I have been packing stuff in order to make sure we're ready and I've finding the time to write in the middle of all the work and stuff. If it's bad, let me know and I'll rewrite it when I have some time.)**

* * *

_**Custom cards, for anyone who is interested:**_

_**Elemental Hero Shapeshift**_

_**Level 1 / Dark / Warrior-effect**_

_**Effect: Once per turn, during either player's turn, you can target 1 monster your opponent controls, and if you do, this card's ATK, DEF, and level become equal to that of the targeted monster, until that monster leaves the field. This card cannot be destroyed by battle.**_

_**ATK/DEF: 0 / 0**_

_**Chemicritter Argo Alligator**_

_**Level 6 / Dark / Reptile-Gemini**_

_**Effect: This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an effect monster with this effect.**_

_**\- When this card battles an opponent's monster, after damage calculation, remove from play this card and the opponent's monster that battled this card.**_

_**ATK/DEF: 2300 / 500**_

_**Chemicritter Heli Hound**_

_**Level 3 / Fire / Beast-Gemini**_

_**I didn't come up with an effect for it lol**_

_**ATK/DEF: 1600 / 1600**_


	12. Chapter 12: Closer

**Chapter 12 – Closer**

* * *

**Quick disclaimer: We're going to go through a big twist here. I hope that you all will bear with me and keep reading, but I won't blame you if you don't. I've been trying to hint at it but I still find it kinda weird myself ngl.**

* * *

Not for the first time since I came to this city, I've found myself alone in a pitch-dark abyss. It's not some sort of oppressive darkness like the nightmares, closing in like a hungry predator seeking to swallow me up. It's just… empty.

My ears hear nothing, not even the beating of my heart or the blood rushing through my veins; my eyes can see nothing, not even a single part of my body no matter which direction I look in; I cannot taste, I cannot feel, and I'm only vaguely aware that I exist to begin with.

Suddenly a sensation comes upon me in the area where I assume my stomach would be, a feeling of weightlessness, as if I were falling at a steady, gentle pace. My feet touch down against an invisible floor, easing into a standing position as if I had been gingerly set down by caring hands.

I can almost feel myself returning to existence. One by one, I feel the bones building up my skeleton; then the muscles, and veins, and organs all coming together to reform my body—and then, out of nowhere, I can see myself again.

But still, that's the only thing I can see. A world of endless night closes in tight around me, black and eternal… and then, in the distance, I see an orange light leap up, like a campfire. My mind argues back and forth with itself on whether or not I should approach, but before a victor is decided I find my body moving of its own accord.

Each step seems to go nowhere. For hours I seem to walk, without making even the slightest bit of progress toward that light, but I press on. Something in the back of my head tells me that I _have_ to reach it, filling me with an almost primal desire, like the first cavemen seeking shelter around a fire.

On and on I walk, and though one moment I find myself still so far away, I blink once, and I'm somehow halfway there. But now that I've gotten closer, the sense of urgency that drives me further toward the dancing flames in the distance becomes that much stronger. That little voice tells me that when I reach it, I'll find what I've been looking for all this time.

But… what is it that I've been looking for all this time?

The easy answer, of course, is everything I've found myself unable to remember, but it could be any number of things. It could even be just a tiny detail about my life, so insignificant that I'd have been better off ignoring my instincts and staying out here in the endless darkness.

I keep walking, heedless of the slight apprehension about what awaits me. Then I walk some more. And a little bit further.

Oh, and then I walk just a bit more, but this time I can actually see the fire getting closer. With each step, the bright flames become clearer and clearer, leaping and dancing like flickering orange ghosts.

Something in them reminds me of my Heroes—Heat, Lady Heat, and of course Nova Master; I can feel the warmth it puts off, fighting back the cold grip of night and practically enveloping me in a hug.

As I get closer, I feel them beside me. I can't see them, of course, but I know their presence as well as any, like how a child can pick their parents out of a crowd—except I couldn't pick my parents out if they were the only ones in the room.

Then I see the shape beside the fire, a form just a shade or two brighter than the darkness partially illuminated by the light. Since they are seated, I cannot tell how tall they are, but I can see powerful arms packed with muscles, and every now and then when the fire drifts one way rather than the other, blown by some nonexistent breeze, I spot a mop of purplish-gray hair tumbling down past their shoulders.

Before I realize it, I'm standing right behind this person, and the words issue from my mouth without even a moment of forethought, "Um… hello."

The person jumps in shock and whirls around, drawing a pair of two long knives that gleam silver in the darkness as if they were made of moonlight. They give off a little bit of light, revealing a small stretch of tanned skin on the right bicep—also showing off a tattoo of a black scorpion.

And the face… almost completely dark, but for an eyepatch with a glowing purple gem set on it in the shape of an x. But despite my inability to detect a face, the feeling is clearly there—shock.

"…Young master…" the person says, in a rather deep, yet somewhat slow voice that reveals them as a man. "Young master, is that you?!"

"I… uh…" I say awkwardly. How exactly am I supposed to respond to this when I can't place a name—or, for that matter, a face to place a name to?

He pauses for a moment, taking a second to sheathe his knives. "Of course… that's right, you don't remember me. That's why you're here now."

"What happened to me?" I blurt out. "Where am I? And how did I get here?"

The man chuckles slowly. "Good questions, young master. I cannot remember the last time you had a good question."

Was that… some kind of dig? It had to be, but I can't help but find this entire situation too baffling to find any sort of amusement from it. "Sorry… who are you?"

Another chuckle, this one laced with a deep, old sadness. "I've got a few names that once would have meant something to you… but for now, you can refer to me as Magure."

_Magure,_ the name repeats in my mind, bouncing around in search of something to connect with. It bounces around quite a bit, as there's a lot of empty space in there, but finally it clings on to one idea—"Are you related to Mr. M?"

"Mr. M?" Magure repeats, his voice slow and deliberate. Everything he says seems to be said in a rather slow manner, as if he's pondering it at the same time as he's saying it. "Ah, yes, that's what he's been calling himself. I suppose you could say that, we do have a mutual friend between us. One who has been gone for a very long time."

He looks directly at me as he speaks about this friend; I can see a flash of a green eye in the socket opposite the eyepatch.

"Do you mean…"

"It doesn't matter what I mean. Come, young master, we've got quite a bit of ground to cover, and I do not know how much time we have together," Magure says, placing a large hand on my shoulder.

I look around at the endless darkness. It's still endless. "Where are we supposed to go? It's pitch black in every direction," I point out, waving my hand around at the unending void.

When Magure speaks again, I can hear a faint hint of a smile in his voice. "I'm surprised at you, young master. Haven't you realized by now that just because you cannot see anything, that does not mean it's not there? How many times have you spoken to Shapeshift without seeing him?"

_He knows about Shapeshift?_ I ask again, "Who are you, Magure?"

"You'll remember me soon enough, I think. In time. But for now, let's go for a bit of a walk," he says, deflecting the question. He removes his hand from his shoulder and holds it out to me, and I take it hesitantly.

And then, the fire explodes into a wall of blinding white light.

* * *

When the light fades and my eyes adjust to not being assaulted by a storm of white, Magure and I find ourselves in the living room of a house. Not an amazingly fancy living room, like Mr. M's, but it's… nice. Extremely clean, but with the lingering feeling that there's very little 'living' done in this room.

The walls are painted a pale blue color, and are rather bare, ornamented with only three or four framed photographs on the back wall, while one wall is dominated by a large bay window obscured from the outside world by closed blinds. At the far end of the room, on the left wall, a doorway opens up into apparent nothingness.

It's furnished with an array of clean white couches and chairs, as well as a pristine black coffee table set with a large book on stars, all of which appear to have come straight out of the furniture store, and on the wall opposite the couches, a large television sits atop a blocky wooden entertainment system. A set of glass doors on the entertainment system reveal a collection of movies and video games.

Getting a closer look at the television, however, causes a bit of curiosity to rise up in my brain.

Though large, it isn't a sleek, flat-screen device like in Mr. M's house, mounted to the wall. This one is an enormous block, black with a slightly bulging screen and what appears to be a box extending out from the back of it.

Something about all of this seems weirdly artificial, yet beneath this phoniness there's a layer of familiarity…

"Magure, what is this place?" I find myself asking, taking a few steps toward the center of the room. The strong scent of an apple-cinnamon air freshener wafts through, carried on an unseen breeze and assailing my nose with the sweet, spicy smell. "I feel like… I've been here before."

"Shh," Magure responds, folding his arms behind his back and remaining in the spot where we had arrived. "Just watch, young master. This will all be very educational for you, I think."

I open my mouth to question further, but my thoughts are interrupted by a joyful shout from somewhere outside the boundaries of the room. I begin to approach the doorway on the left, still only seeing darkness beyond the threshold, but almost at once two young boys burst into existence, one chasing the other and both laughing and giggling as they run and leap onto the couch, which squeaks and groans beneath the sudden weight. I'm a little surprised that it isn't made of cardboard, with how fake this all seems.

One, a cheery youth with a wild nest of brown hair and stormy eyes, fumbles around the coffee table and picks up a remote, powering on the television, with pops into life with a crackle.

"Come on, it's gonna be on soon!" the other boy, an excitable little fellow with a fairly thick English accent, complains. Both of them seem to be, perhaps, seven or eight at most.

"Cool it, B! I've done this enough at your house, I know the channel!" the one with the remote shoots back.

"You just passed it!"

"No I didn't!"

"You did!" B insists, trying to grapple with the other boy for control over the remote. The television flashes rapidly through several channels, but finally B yanks it away from the other and flips it to an animated show about superheroes. "Are your parents really going to be okay with us watching this on the big TV?"

"Why does this all feel so familiar?" I say aloud, not really looking for an answer from any of the assembled company. "…Who are these kids?"

Before I can ask further questions, my eyes hone in on the television. On-screen is a man dressed in a blue and yellow jumpsuit, with a rat's nest of brown hair and a smirking, amused look on his face.

"Wait—is that…" my eyes go wide, and my jaw drops through the floor. "Shapeshift?"

In the back of my mind, I feel a dull, throbbing pain in one specific spot, pulsating intermittently, like someone striking a rock with a pickaxe over and over again.

"Not quite Shapeshift," Magure says quietly. "That's the one you based him off of. He's called…"

"Morph!" I interrupt at once, the memories flooding back. "This is X-Men that they're watching!"

I hurry over to the couch and sit down on it, though the cushion doesn't move or make noise to even acknowledge my existence, and I join the boys in an engrossed trance, leaning forward on our hands with our elbows digging into our knees.

Magure seems a bit amused, but also perhaps a bit annoyed by all this. He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs quietly. "He recognizes X-Men and Morph, but not himself…"

"Huh?" I question, tearing my focus away from the screen to look at the muscular man in the corner of the room, getting a better look at the guy who drew knives on me back in that endless darkness.

Bronzed skin stretches across thick muscles, left open to the air thanks to a sleeveless leather vest crisscrossed with bandoliers and armed to the teeth with pouches and pockets. His left eye is a dark brown, almost black; his right eye no longer exists, instead covered by that eyepatch with the x-shaped purple gem, causing me to wonder how he might have lost it. Shoulder length gray-purple hair shines lavender in the sunlight which peeks in through the blinds.

"That's _you_, young master!" Magure exclaims, pointing to the boy with the wild hair, who bounces with excitement every time the hero known as Morph appears on screen.

"You don't say," I comment absently, finding my eyes consistently drawn back to the television, but I'm quickly snapped out of my trance by Magure shaking my shoulder. Regaining my senses, I look down at the boy next to me, and soon see a bit of myself reflected in him; I've tamed my hair a bit since then, and of course I've gotten taller, but… I can't deny that he looks a lot like me. "No way… so we're in my memories, then?"

"You're just now realizing this? Well, I suppose you wouldn't remember what you looked like at this age…" Magure begins rambling to himself, before finally sighing and sitting down on the floor in front of me. "Oh, this is one of the first episodes, isn't it? I've always enjoyed the Sentinels…"

"Hey, Magure?" I ask after a moment, crossing my legs so that he can lean back against the couch.

"Yes, Ben?"

"Who's the other kid, then? Mr. M's grandson or something?"

"…No. Not quite, though you're on the right track," Magure remarks, giving the boy a sidelong glance. There's something he isn't telling me, but I'm not sure where exactly I need to put the pressure to squeeze out the information.

A commercial break loses my attention, both from myself and young me. "B! Look at this!" Young Me says excitedly as a commercial for some stupid award show comes on the air.

"What's up, Ben?" B responds, looking at him with quizzical eyes.

This is the first time I've gotten a good look at this "B." He seems to be shorter than Young Me, definitely shorter than regular-age me, with short black hair cut close to his head, though at the back there's the beginnings of a small spike jutting out. And in his deep blue eyes, there's a sense of immense intelligence, supplemented by the potential to become much, much smarter.

But what could "B" stand for? I know it, I have to know it—Young Me must certainly know it, after all!—but whatever it stands for simply won't click in my mind, and it nags at me like an annoying little dog biting at my pant leg.

Young Me rushes out of the room and out of existence, then a moment later returns holding a large sheet of printer paper. He presents it proudly to B, standing directly in front of the television while a commercial blares some loud, goofy song.

"I drew Morph!" Young Me declares, showing off the picture. It's surprisingly well-drawn for someone his age, and as I look over the creation that was no doubt the product of several broken colored pencils, I can't help but feel a swell of pride. I suppose part of me never really believed that I had created Shapeshift, until now. "Your dad let me use the copier, and helped me send it off to the comic company! You think they'll put it in the back of a comic book?"

B looks astonished. "You're a really good drawer, Ben!" he says, taking the drawing from Young Me and running his eyes over it. He looks down to the corner of the page, at a bit of writing, and furrows his brows. "What's this?"

"What?"

"Down here, in the corner," B explains, smoothing the page out on the coffee table and pointing to the words. They're written in a small hand, but it's too neat to be something I could have written at that age.

Young Me looks at it for a moment, smiles, shrugs, and says, "I have no idea! You know I can't read!"

"You were that old and you couldn't read?" Magure asks incredulously.

Older Me looks at him for a moment, smiles, shrugs, and says, "I have no idea! This is all news to me!"

Magure sighs. "I can't believe I'm bound to this one…"

I want to lean in to get a look at the writing B mentions, but the scene changes after that little exchange. The living room falls away, the walls disassembling into mere lines as the light blue paint fades to white and the furniture melts into the ground, which shatters like glass, leaving Magure and I standing in a world of whiteness.

"Where are we headed to next?" I ask Magure, looking up into his exasperated face. Annoyed as he seems to be, there's a trace of a smile quirking at his lips as he stares down at the emptiness beneath us.

"Right next door, actually, and a few years ahead. You'd be about eleven now, I think," Magure replies as the world begins to reform around us.

What comes first is the distinct feeling of being upstairs. Perhaps you know what I mean, or perhaps not; there's some sort of different sensation that lets you know that you are in fact some height off the ground, and that's exactly what I'm feeling right now.

The room is not so big, much smaller than the living room of the last memory, but perhaps about as big as Yusei and Rally's tent back in the Satellite. A decent-sized bed is placed against one corner of the room, dressed with lavender bedsheets and a few plush blankets placed over them for extra warmth. Opposite the bed is a large wooden desk equipped with several shelves, each holding many books, notebooks and folders, all of which are meticulously organized and labeled so that nothing is out of place. A comfy leather desk chair sits tucked in, while a lamp with a posable neck is flicked on and pointed directly at the center.

Magure and I find ourselves standing at the doorway, looking in on the two occupants of the room. One, sitting on the bed, is very clearly myself; my hair has grown out a bit, and I've gotten taller, but I could recognize myself anywhere—the lack of recognition with six year old me notwithstanding. The other, seated in the desk chair, seems to be a more grown-up version of B, complete with the hair spike.

B sits hunched over the desk, scribbling furiously in a notebook as I chatter onto him about something. I'm apparently very excited, waving my hands in an animated manner as my mouth moves nonstop; soon the words begin to make sense as they pass through my mind, and I watch as Slightly-Older-But-Still-Young Me raise a card high over his head.

"Can you believe it, B?! They actually made him into a card!" I shout excitedly, cradling the card to my chest as I flop back down onto the bed.

"Shush, Ben! I need to solve this before the timer runs out," B hisses, only briefly raising his head to look over his shoulder at Young Me. Looking onto the desk, I can see a kitchen timer ticking away with fifteen seconds left.

"Oh, lighten up, will you? Haven't you studied enough?" Young Me complains. "It's our birthday, dude! Your parents are waiting for us…"

"I never realized that the two of you shared a birthday," Magure comments.

"I still don't even know when my birthday is," I respond. "Magure… who is this other guy? He feels so familiar, but…"

A devious smile comes across Magure's face. "You know him very well. Even better than you know me."

"But I don't really know you that well! Or, if I do, I don't remember!" I say harshly, feeling a bit frustrated by this guy and his eyepatch refusing to just give me the answers straight.

"That's the point of all this!" Magure replies. "So you _can_ remember! Your memories aren't gone, they've been locked away—and I'm trying to help you retrieve them! _But I need your help too!_"

From somewhere beyond this room, a man's voice yells out, "Boys! Come on down, it's time for cake!"

B sets down his pencil, and sighs. The kitchen timer starts ringing at an annoyingly loud pitch. He stops it, but the incessant hum trills shrilly in the background as we stand and listen.

"Finished." B says tensely, standing up and turning off the desk lamp. He stretches and twists his upper body, sighing again in relief each time he moves. "You know, Ben, you should really be more concerned with your studies. You want to go to the Academy as well, but you hardly take anything seriously…"

Young Me stands up from the bed and throws his arms around his friend's shoulders in a loose hug. "B! If there's one night a year that you can relax, it's our birthday. I bet that Isengard guy you like so much has fun on his birthday."

B shrugs his way out of Young Ben's grasp. "It's _Eisenstein,_ and no he doesn't. He's on the record as saying he studies Duel physics with every waking breath. If I want to catch up…"

"Even at that age he was so studious… I wonder what happened?" Magure says idly. "And you have a much better temperament when you have all your memories."

"Yeah, I bet." I grumble.

Young Me starts ushering B out of the room again, walking right through Magure and I as if we aren't even here. Of course, technically we aren't. Much of the conversation is drowned out by the still-present timer sound, but I'm able to catch the slightest bit of the conversation at the very end:

"Come on, bestest buddy. Oh, and you too, Bastion."

_Bastion._

The gnawing pressure at the back of my mind sharpens painfully, causing me to yelp and earning a worried glance from Magure.

"Young master?" Magure asks, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I barely hear his voice, however. The name repeats itself, in many different voices and inflections. _Bastion. Bastion. Bastion._

"Young master, are you alright?"

_Bastion. Bastion. Bastion. _The name won't leave me alone, coming back louder and stronger each time I try to push it out of my brain, joining with the angry racket of the kitchen timer. The screeching orchestra rips through my mind in a sort of insane melody, bringing me to my knees as I clamp my hands over my ears.

My eyes squeeze shut, and finally I hear my own voice joining in. _Bastion. Bastion._ "BASTION!"

When my eyes open again, Magure is gone, and I'm back in my room at Mr. M's house at sunset. Orange light fills the room with a sort of melancholy glow, coating everything in a brownish tone like an ancient photograph.

Dr. Pepper and Mr. M are both positioned near me, Dr. Pepper laying on the bed at my side, and Mr. M to my right, about to settle into a comfy-looking chair with a nice cup of tea. Mr. M is staring at me, eyes wide and mouth agape, and even Dr. Pepper seems to be surprised by my sudden awakening.

"What did you say, Ben…?" Mr. M asks in a soft, trembling voice.

As the shapes and faces begin to register in my mind, the world starting to make some semblance of sense again, my stormy eyes settle upon Mr. M, searching his face for something I am not yet sure of.

And that's when I find them: the tear-filled eyes of my best friend in the whole world.

"Bastion…" I repeat quietly. "How the hell did you get so old?"

* * *

**SOOOO! Who was actually expecting that ending? Like I mentioned in the disclaimer at the beginning of the chapter, I've been trying to foreshadow this for a while, but I've even questioned it a bit. Sticking with it though, so as I said I hope you guys will be with me for the long run, but I won't blame you if you don't. But, uh, I'm honestly not even sure what else to say here, so I suppose I'll let you all make your decisions here eh?**

**Thank you guys all so much for your reviews, follows, favorites, all of the support is awesome and much appreciated. I do hope that you all will stick with me to the end, but if not, I'm glad you've come this far with me. **

**So as always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~**

**~Chase**

**(P.S., Yeah, if you guys didn't realize already Elemental Hero Shapeshift is 100% based on Morph from X-Men lol. Hope the idea of Ben and Bastion watching X-Men wasn't too jarring)**


	13. Chapter 13: Time Doesn't Stop

**Chapter 13: Time Doesn't Stop**

* * *

A weary chuckle elicits from Bastion's mouth as my question registers in his mind. The aged face of my best friend stares down at the foot of my bed for several moments, before finally he speaks again.

"How did I get so old? It should be me asking how you stayed so young," he says, raising his eyes to look at me, favoring me with a sad smile. "You may not realize this, Ben, but it's been seventy years since the last time you said my name."

It's a good thing that I'm seated in my bed, because that statement would have driven me to the floor, and probably through it.

"S-seventy years," I repeat, my eyes scanning his, hoping to see some glimmer of playfulness in there, something that would say he was merely joking.

But how could he be? I can see the years that have passed on him; the wispy clouds covering his head, once darker than my hair but now white as snow; intelligent eyes that now are full of the sort of wisdom one can only gain from experience; and beneath it all, a sort of sorrow that can only be found from a lifetime of loss. This is a face that I had seen practically every day for most of my young life, and yet, as familiar as it should be, it can only seem a stranger.

I run my hand along his cheek lightly, my fingers seeking for some sort of rubber or latex material that could suggest a mask. I know I won't find one, but I can't stop myself. The skin is old, and wrinkled, and thin, like the pages of a centuries-old book. Part of me worries that he'll crack and crumble away, or even tear if I touch the wrong spots.

"I've been gone for seventy years," I say, trying to reckon this new idea with myself. My brain doesn't seem to want to simply take Bastion's word for it, and I can't blame it; if I weren't seeing this with my own eyes, feeling him with my own hands, I'd have a tough time believing it myself. I _am_ having a tough time believing it myself. "Where… where did I go? What happened to me?"

Mr. M—which I now stupidly realize stood for Misawa—purses his lips. "You haven't remembered that then," he says.

"No, tell me, please—do you know?" Pressing my fists down into the bed, I push myself up onto my knees, hunched over like a gorilla. I crawl across the bed to sit down in front of him, Dr. Pepper between us.

Every move causes twinges of pain to stab through my body at several different points; this must show, as he leans forward and puts both hands on my shoulders to keep me still. "Calm down, Ben," he says in a soothing voice.

Attempting to calm me only seems to give the opposite effect. Being told to calm down… I know that he doesn't want me to hurt myself by moving too much, and that he simply wants me to stay still, but I can only hear it as insisting I stop my questioning, and that _makes my blood __**boil**_.

"Calm down?" I say, my voice rising before I can stop myself. I stand, pain shooting up my legs in searing waves; I have to bite my tongue to prevent from yelling in pain. "_Calm down?_ This whole time I've been wandering around with barely even the _slightest _bit of memory, and when I'm able to recognize my best friend, he tells me that I've been gone for SEVENTY. FUCKING. YEARS… AND THEN HE TELLS ME TO CALM DOWN!"

"Sit down, Ben." The tone he uses does not leave room for debate. Mere moments after I stand, so does he, rising to his full height to look me square in the eyes. His voice is low, his eyes stern and hard.

After a moment of standing nearly nose-to-nose like this, I'm able to say in a soft voice, "…This is how you used to get me to study."

"Yes, it is," Bastion replies quietly.

I begin to sit down, but before I do, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me, pulling me into the old man's chest in a tight hug. He seems to be holding onto me for dear life, and as I realize that he's hugging me, I return it, though not quite so hard.

"I'm so glad you're back," he says after we've stood in this embrace for several minutes, none of us speaking. "I… was worried that I'd lost you forever. My best friend."

In response, I can only be silent. What am I supposed to say? That I was worried I'd never see him again? He knows that up until a few days ago, I didn't even know who he was. There's nothing I can say to reassure him, so I only hug him a bit tighter.

After a bit longer, he releases me. "I hope you'll forgive an old man's sorrows. When you've outlived as many loved ones as I have…" he swallows, his voice shaking just slightly. "Well… you learn to appreciate the ones you still have."

This strikes a chord deep within me. I hadn't thought of that—that while I've found Bastion again, there's a countless number of nameless, faceless others who I'll never see again.

My thoughts immediately drift to our parents—mine, and his. I don't recall much of anything about either pair, aside from that briefest of memories where Bastion's parents had made us a cake for our shared birthday.

Even though I know the answer, I ask in a hesitant voice, "Our parents…?"

He looks away, and I immediately feel a pang of guilt. No matter how many years ago it may have been, losing a parent has to hurt.

"I-I'm sorry," I say quickly. "I should have known better…"

"No, it's fine," he speaks slowly. "Yes. They're gone… some forty years ago, at least."

I feel hot tears stinging at the corners of my eyes. Despite not remembering them, I know there has to have been so many good memories, and the sudden hollow feeling in my chest lends credence to that theory as I begin to miss people whose faces I don't even remember.

Bastion takes a step back, and places his wrinkled old hands on my cheeks, looking into my eyes. He wants to cry too, I can tell, but he's holding it a lot better than me. A watery smile crosses his face. "She'd be so happy to see you again."

"She?"

The smile drops quickly, as if he realized what he had said. "Er… your mother. She'd be overjoyed to see you again, I know it. My mother too," he stammers. "But… no more of this sad talk. You must be starving."

There's something that nags at me about how he changed the subject on the topic of this 'her,' but the rumbling of my stomach prevents me from inquiring further. It's apparently rather loud, as it causes him to chuckle, albeit a bit nervously. His hands drop from my face, one taking hold of my arm gently, and he guides me out of the bedroom, Dr. Pepper moseying along behind us.

* * *

Sitting in the kitchen as he makes us a late dinner of vegetarian tacos, Bastion begins telling me of his life after my disappearance, though he's careful not to use too many names.

He married a classmate of ours, who he never really spoke too much until after my disappearance. She was a friend of someone who was apparently a very close friend of mine, but she didn't interact very much with us on a day-to-day basis.

Mrs. M would go on to become a teacher at an elementary school for young Duelists—which is apparently a thing, much to my surprise. As for Mr. M, he went on to become a respected scientist, often working side-by-side with Professor Eisenstein, whom he was very delighted to find out I recalled. He apparently even helped in the development of an energy source known as Ener-D, which powered much of New Domino.

As you can imagine, this made him very, very wealthy.

Bastion and his wife had three children, two boys and a girl. One of the boys is named Ben, the other Kai—short for Kaiser—and the girl is called Rose. Kaiser, however, has apparently passed on, though Bastion refused to say why. They have a few grandchildren as well, but because Ben and Rose do not live within the limits of New Domino City, it's very rare when he sees them.

My next big mistake comes after our tacos have finished cooking, and we're eating. Before I can even think to stop myself, I ask why I haven't seen his wife around here.

His face darkens, and at once I know the answer. I curse mentally, annoyed that I could be so stupid. Immediately I begin to apologize, and change the subject.

"So, um… while I was out… I had a few more dreams. Well, I'm not so sure they were dreams. They were memories, I guess," I explain a bit awkwardly.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Well, part of it had to be a dream. There was this guy there… he called himself Magure," I say, trying to describe this mysterious man. "He had an eyepatch… and a scorpion tattoo on his arm."

"Yes… I do believe I've seen someone like that before," Bastion replies. For a moment, I could almost swear that he's looking right at Dr. Pepper.

"Well, um… he took me through two memories. One's from when we were kids, I guess. We were watching X-Men," I say, smiling a bit at the thought. Bastion starts to smile too. "And… I brought out this drawing I did of Morph. It made me realize… I created Shapeshift, didn't I?"

"Indeed you did, old friend." He pauses for a moment, then explains, "I doubt you remember this, but my father worked at Industrial Illusions. For our birthday when we were thirteen, he took your fanart, touched it up a bit, and turned it into the Shapeshift you use so well."

Remembering an exchange that I had with Magure, I blurt, "Could I really not read when we were seven?"

He starts to chuckle… and that chuckle soon evolves into full blown laughter. The sadness seems to have melted away. "Ben… you couldn't properly read until we were eleven. Even at seventeen you still couldn't pronounce some words larger than three syllables."

My mouth opens and closes like a fish as I try to figure out how to respond to that. With such an intelligent friend, how is it possible that I was that stupid?

"Well, um… the other memory… was on our birthday. I guess probably our thirteenth. We were up in your room, and you were studying. And berating me, too, because I never took studying for the Academy seriously…"

He smiles fondly again. "Ah yes… that was before I was as tall as you. I couldn't stare you in the eyes and make you study back then."

A silence settles between us again. When those memories came back to me, it seemed like they took up so much time to relive, but explaining them to Bastion… took only a few minutes. We haven't even finished our tacos yet.

But I also wasn't expecting such muted responses from him. I was hoping that he'd at least tell me something more about my past, or explain some sort of background to it all, or better yet just tell me the story of my whole life. He's lived for almost ninety years, and it seems at least ten of those were spent with me at his side…

Finally, I have to say, "There's… gotta be so much more you're not telling me. Why?"

He pauses mid-chew and sets his taco down on the plate. He chews a few more times, slowly, ponderously, and then swallows. He takes another bite and again chews it down at an agonizingly slow pace.

"Ben… there's a lot that you don't remember. Those two you recovered are but raindrops in an ocean when compared to what is still missing," Bastion says. "You've lost just about everything from your seventeen years. There is quite a bit that I can give back to you, yes, but for it all to return at once… well, your mind would probably explode. Figuratively, of course. I think."

I hate how much sense he's making. A big part of me doesn't care what could happen, now that I've dipped my toes into the well, I _need_ to know more!

But he won't budge. There's only one more thing that he's willing to tell me about our past—our birthday. "The twelfth of April," he states, "two weeks from today. Almost exactly three hours apart, though I'm actually older than you."

We finish our meal quietly, with him refusing to say anything further about the history of my world, and we head up to our bedrooms. The sun had gone down some time early in our conversation, and now the sky was pitch dark and the big grandfather clock in the hallway read "XI." I'm not quite sure what that means, or how to pronounce it; maybe it means, 'eXcItingly late' or something of that sort?

Before we part ways for the night, he turns to me and says, "Try not to stay up too late, Ben. I know that you'll probably have a lot on your mind, but we're going to be doing a bit of babysitting tomorrow. I'm going to get you up early."

This causes me to tilt my head slightly. "Babysitting? An old man and an equally old man who looks like a teenager?"

"Indeed." Bastion replies, as if there's nothing odd about that premise at all. "We'll be babysitting the children of one of Kai's friends. I watch them every now and again, very good kids. Twins, as a matter of fact."

Dr. Pepper eases on up between us and then into my room. We watch him as he disappears through the doorway, and then turn back to face one another.

Bastion's expression softens a bit. "I promise I'll tell you more soon. But for now, just get some sleep. This could help you more than you think." He pauses, and then says, "Sometimes… the best way to solve your own problems is to help others. Good night, Ben."

And with that, he slips into his bedroom and closes the door with a soft click, leaving me alone in the hallway.

I sidle on up to the window, staring out at the moonlit lawn. The silver light casts a pale blanket across the beautifully maintained grounds, weaving between the ornamental hedges, ducking behind statues and hiding beneath the amazing, leafy plants that fill his garden. I haven't been out there yet, but it's all so beautiful, I can't wait to see it in person.

At the edge of the lawn, a bit of movement captures my attention. My eyes flit toward it, and for the briefest of moments I see a black figure outlined against the pearly grounds. It's human in shape, but before I can discern too much a cloud passes in front of the moon, and when it moves away again the figure is gone. I don't know why, but the sight of it turns my insides cold, so I hurry into my room, flick off the hall lights, and hop into bed beside Dr. Pepper.

"Don't suppose you're going to tell me anything about my past, eh, doc?" I ask, affectionately running my hand over the bumpy shell of my reptilian friend.

From the various things that Bastion has mentioned about him, part of me expects him to respond, but he doesn't; a good thing too, as I'd probably make a bit of a mess in the bed if he did.

I lay my head down against the pillow and sigh, reaching over to turn out the lamp. "Damn… seventy years…" I sigh again, staring up at the dark ceiling and tugging the blankets up to my chin. In lieu of counting sheep, I begin to make a checklist of everything I know about my past.

"My name is Ben. Don't know what Ben is short for. Partial check. I'm seventeen… er, eighty-seven, I guess. Check. My birthday is April 12th, which is in two weeks. Check." I turn over onto my right, looking down at Dr. Pepper on his little bed. "I named Dr. Pepper, which means he's old as hell too. Check. My parents, and Bastion's parents, are no longer with us. Check."

My eyes start to droop. I hadn't really planned on falling asleep from doing this, or else those dreams, or whatever they were, actually left me exhausted. Whatever the case, I find myself losing the fight against slumber, and while I intended to hit the hay nonetheless, the hay hits back.

* * *

**AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOING TO END IT TODAY! Apologies about the length of time between updates, and the lesser length of this chapter. To address the update time, I've been put on night shift for the last month and I'm still in the process of trying to work out some sort of structure for my daily life. To address the length of the chapter, I'll be honest—I was able to cover everything I wanted to in this many words, and also I just wanted to make sure you guys didn't think I just dropped off. We'll be moving on with the actual plot of 5Ds in the next chapter or two I think. **

**Anyway, I'm really glad you guys liked the little plot twist! I was worried it would go over a lot worse than it did, but the responses have been amazing! You guys really are the best readers an author like me could ask for. I hope I'll be able to answer all your questions!**

**So, because I feel like I've taken up too much time with this A/N, I'll go ahead and end things out. But before I do, I've just got one question for you guys—what do you guys want to see from this, now that we know more about Ben's backstory? (Also, how do you guys feel about Ben actually being slightly illiterate? It's mostly for comedic purposes, but I can easily fix it if you guys don't enjoy it.)**

**ANYWAAAY, as always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~!**

**~Chase**


	14. Chapter 14: The Twins

**Chapter 14: The Twins**

* * *

Bastion is true to his word, awakening me at half past six in the morning by the means of tossing Dr. Pepper onto my bed—and let me tell you, that tortoise is _heavy._ As the shelled reptile lands on the bed, the force enacted by the shelled reptile tosses me a few feet into the air before I land back down, eyes wide open and staring, my fight or flight instincts kicking in.

As I gasp and look around wildly, not quite registering my surroundings, I hear a noise that starts to infuriate me—that old bastard is _laughing. _He's trying to hide it, but behind his wrinkled old hand he's snickering and doing his damnedest to not burst out into guffaws.

In response, I sit straight up, and slug him in the arm. Halfway into the punch, I remind myself that he is not as young as he was the last time I saw him, and try to stop but nonetheless I connect—with hard muscle. And then he loses control, dropping his hand from his mouth and laughing even harder, even doubling over at some point.

When he finally stops his raucous laughter, though still chuckling to himself every now and again, he tells me, "Come on Ben, it's time to get up. New Domino traffic in the mornings is quite terrible."

Still in the process of waking up, I reply groggily, "Then… why don't we just leave later?"

In my sleep-addled brain, his response sounds something like, "Well, we need to get there before the coconuts do."

My sleep-addled brain then questions, "Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?"

He looks at me weirdly for a moment, snickers again, and then walks out, calling over his shoulder, "Dr. Pepper, I'm tasking you with getting the boy up." He chuckles again and comments, "And I thought the elderly were supposed to be so… sprightly in the mornings. Hehe."

After the old man has left the room, I turn m gaze upon Dr. Pepper. The tortoise looks back at me silently, his remaining eye unblinking.

"Did he just call me old?" I ask the shelled reptile.

Of course, he doesn't answer, but I swear that through my half-open eyes, I can see a flash of exhaustion in his one good eye.

As soon as I'm sure Bastion is down the hall, I roll over onto my side and nestle back down into my plush pillow, closing my tired eyes.

"Now that he's gone, I'll just close my eyes for a bi—OW!" I yelp, sitting up and cradling my elbow while Dr. Pepper sits there with something akin to a smug look on his face. An angry red welt is rising at my elbow. "Did you just… bite me? Tortoises can bite?"

For some reason, it had not occurred to me that anything besides a snapping turtle could bite. I can't say if it's normal or not though; after all, Dr. Pepper has proven to be a very unusual tortoise.

* * *

_**[Cue in second opening theme: "Sorairo Days" by Nathan Sharpe/NateWantstoBattle (English cover of the first opening for Gurren Lagann)**_

_**Ask if you can hear the sound, of my voice through the cold hard ground,**_

Our first sight is a shot of the Satellite and the City, a diagonal slash dividing the two. Ben and Bastion appear, Ben in the Satellite, Bastion in the City; they face away from one another, facing to the left and right respectively. They reach their hands in front of them, grasping for something off-screen, and close their eyes. The screen is constantly flashing black, and after their eyes shut the screen stops flashing and becomes solid black.

_**I lost it while searching for you, I screamed into the dark,**_

We open back up on a shot of Ben's eyes opening, before zooming out to find him overlooking the City at night, the lights of the buildings shining like thousands of tiny stars. He's all alone, until Shapeshift appears behind him, with several other Heroes joining in further behind.

_**If the world we're living in, has a single soul that you love, **_

Cut to Bastion's house, the living room. The old man and Dr. Pepper sit next to one another on a couch, a photo album propped open before them. We pan over the various pictures, most of the faces obscured by well-placed glare from lights—until coming to a stop on an image of Ben and Bastion in their younger years, dressed in Ra Yellow uniforms with their arms tossed around one another, both grinning.

_**If it holds a shred of meaning, well, then it's worth every fight! **_

A wrinkled hand glides across the photo, before the book is shut. We zoom up on Bastion's face, and for the briefest of moments, he appears youthful again, a flash of determination in his eyes.

_**And when all that we know comes to push and shove,**_

The other characters begin to appear in quick succession, appearing in various poses with their Signer dragons beside or behind them as we begin to pan across the sky. Starting with Yusei and Stardust Dragon, we go next to Jack and Red Dragon Archfiend,

_**Then we will pierce the heavens! **_

Next are Leo and Luna sharing the screen, Power Tool Dragon and Ancient Fairy Dragon behind them. Next is Akiza, her face obscured by her Black Rose Witch mask, Black Rose Dragon roaring and spreading thousands of red petals behind her.

_**The colors we see are new to you and me when we see the sky—**_

The Dragon Star shines brightly in center frame now, red and pulsating. Clouds swirl around it, gray and purple and black, before a sudden burst of red from the star blows them all away. The camera slams downward to see Rally staring up at the sky, and smiling.

_**As we began to run,**_

Jump cut to Ben and Bastion in a Duel Runner, the old man sitting in a side car as they rocket toward the camera, both of them grinning maniacally.

_**So we can finally feel the sun,**_

We zoom out a bit to find ourselves in the Kaiba Dome, with Goodwin watching on from his booth with his back turned.

_**Finally, you and I feel so alive, I feel your beating heart! **_

We now see Yusei and Jack riding alongside one another, Stardust and Red Dragon locked in combat as Ben and Bastion speed between the two. The camera zooms in on Stardust Dragon's wing, using it as the segue into the next scene,

_**If you believe in me, we'll find where we were meant to be—**_

Ben and Akiza in a ground duel appears next, Elemental Hero Shapeshift somersaulting and cartwheeling around the field as Black Rose Dragon attempts to slash at him with its vines. Ben and Akiza's eyes meet, and the rage in Akiza's eyes softens a bit.

_**Now who cares about tomorrow, if today we are free?**_

Leo and Luna walk beside Bastion now, wandering through his immense garden. The old man says something, causing Leo to start laughing as Luna smiles brightly. She looks off to the side and sees Kuribon bouncing along with them.

_**My answer is always "Yes," **_

The cast now stands assembled in front of Bastion's mansion in a freeze frame, centered around Ben; Bastion is to his immediate right, Akiza to his left, Yusei to Bastion's right, Jack to Akiza's left and so on. Rally, Leo and Luna are chasing Dr. Pepper in front, and over Rally's head Ben's face is just barely visible.

_**That I will always be with you.**_

One final cut puts our focus back on the old photo of Bastion and Ben. This time, however, it's elderly Bastion and Ben standing together, still smiling as bright as ever.

* * *

I'm not sure why, but as we drive down the highway at approximately 23 miles per hour, I start to question if the reason New Domino's traffic is so bad in the mornings is because of Bastion. Riding in a car, in an enclosed space watching the city roll by like the backdrop of a movie, evokes memories of my experience on a Duel Runner—as well as reviving the guilt of losing said Duel Runner that I had buried deep down, telling myself that it wasn't such a big deal in the face of the whole 'I'm actually almost ninety years old' thing.

It's a very nice car, sleek and shiny, and not too angular like some of the others that I've seen about that look as if someone put a triangle on wheels. The way the sun shines on its metallic paint makes it difficult to discern its true color, so for now I'll be considering it dark blue. I quite like dark blue.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm sitting in the back seat while Dr. Pepper rides shotgun? Yeah, that kind of hurts my pride.

An upside to this whole, 'going to live with my elderly best friend' business is that I've been given actual clothes to wear aside from the gray sweats and shirt, though as I sit here in this multicolored tie-dye shirt, I can't help but feel a little ridiculous. The black jeans are nice, and the sneakers are top of the line, but despite Bastion's reassurances that I used to wear tie-dye all the time in our younger years, I find it a bit more likely that he's pulling some sort of elaborate prank on me.

He's also taken the liberty of giving a bit of maintenance to my old Duel Disk—as well as informing me that it's a miracle that it's even working, as it's seventy years old, a remnant from our days at the Academy. After applying a bit of elbow grease, it shines as if it were brand new.

We roll on down the road in no huge hurry, the radio blaring an "oldies" station that plays lots of music from when we were young. As a rock song about a young man who insists that he is just a kid and his friends don't want to hang out with him concludes, I pry my eyes away from the passing scenery and look up front. My eyes meet with Bastion's in the rear-view mirror, and though I can't see his mouth, I can tell he's smiling by the way the corners of his eyes crinkle.

"Having fun back there, Ben?" he asks, turning off of the main road and onto a curving bit of pavement that leads onto a lower section of the highway going westward. Despite driving so slow on the straight portion of the road, he seems to hit the gas real hard here, tossing me against the door on my left and causing me to thank the powers that be for seatbelts. He then resumes his snail-like pace after merging back onto the highway.

"Er… yeah," I say, rubbing my neck a bit where it slammed against the neck rest during the turn. "Why am I in the back again?"

"I told you, Dr. Pepper called shotgun," Bastion explains simply.

"Well, yeah I heard you the first time, but…" _Dr. Pepper can't talk…_

He cuts me off before I can finish that thought. "Then I don't need to explain it again, do I? You know the rules—first one to call shotgun gets to ride shotgun. That's one of the Ten Commandments, I believe."

I don't think that's exactly correct, but I don't know enough about these "Ten Commandments" to argue the point. Instead, I ask a question that I haven't thought about in days, but comes to mind immediately as I see the façade of the Sector Security building in the distance.

"Hey, Bastion? When am I gonna meet this… Goodwin guy?"

"Who?"

"Goodwin… er, Director Goodwin, I guess. The judge at my trial said that he gave me a personal pardon, and that someone who worked for him would collect me," I explain, recalling the details of that odd trial where the judge was utterly baffled by the contents of my file. "That was you, right?"

"Oh, yes. I suppose I did tell them that on the phone," Bastion replies absently. He changes lanes, then clears his throat and says, "It is true that I worked with Director Goodwin several years ago, shortly before I retired, but I haven't spoken to the man in quite some time. I admit I don't have the slightest clue what he'd want with you."

I frown slightly. "So… did you like, hack the system or something?" I ask, a bit nervous at the potential blowback if Sector Security discovered such deception, but also impressed that the old man could have cracked what must be an amazingly secure system.

"No. Well, partially. I did, ah… 'correct' a misspelling on the name of the person who was going to be sent to collect you," he responds. "That is, they completely misspelled the name 'Bastion Misawa,' so I fixed their mistake for them."

I can't help but laugh at this, finding this all a bit ridiculous. After a moment, I inquire, "But… how did you know it was me? There's gotta be dozens of people named 'Ben West' out there, it doesn't sound that unusual…"

Bastion starts to laugh at this question. "Well my young friend, Ben West certainly does sound like a common name. However, I've never met another person whose name is exactly the same as yours."

"What do you mean? Exactly the same?" I repeat, furrowing my brow.

"Well, surely the judge told you? Your name isn't just 'Ben,' of course, it's Benj—" a loud horn from behind us cuts off his sentence. The old man grumbles something about impatient drivers, and I can't help but feel a bit of déjà vu coming on in that moment.

"Benj—what, Bastion?" I ask, trying to get him to finish his previous statement.

Something that's bothered me this whole time is not knowing what Ben is short for; if it weren't 'Benjamin,' nobody would be making such a fuss, right? So what the _hell_ could my parents have named me that it's such a hassle to get people to tell me?

"Right, sorry about that. Rude city drivers and all," says the old man going slightly more than ten miles an hour in a fifty-mile zone. "Anyway, it's Benj—oh, we're here! Excellent timing!"

I can almost hear Shapeshift laughing at me as I contemplate smashing my head into the back of Bastion's seat.

* * *

It sits atop the very top of a tall skyscraper, which Bastion has estimated to be one of the highest places in the city. We have to park in an underground garage, and I can't help but feel a bit claustrophobic as I'm reminded of the cramped space of the Pipeline. I find myself thinking of Rally and the rest of them, living the semi-subterranean life in that old subway tunnel. The guilt from losing my Duel Runner comes back then.

An incredibly fast elevator takes us up to the penthouse, in a district of New Domino referred to as the Tops. We're hardly in the elevator for a minute before it opens up to bright sunlight, and giving us a view of a house that's even larger than Bastion's.

Even though it's only two stories tall, the space it occupies on the top of this skyscraper more than covers the size of Bastion's house, though he has more property. Just like everything else in New Domino, the building looks very clean; whitewashed walls, polished windows, flat, tiered roofs and a manicured lawn. It forms a long rectangle around an hourglass-shaped pool, full of shimmering blue water, with tall shrubs and trees and even a few palm trees here and there.

"This whole place is theirs?" I wonder aloud, looking around in awe.

"Indeed. Come on, they're expecting us. Well, me, and Dr. Pepper. You're a bit of a surprise guest," Bastion replies.

Speaking of Dr. Pepper—did you know that in this city, someone decided to make a business selling front carriers for tortoises, like how people carry their babies? Yeah, neither did I, until I got stuck carrying the heavy beast on my chest. Bastion insists it's because Dr. Pepper doesn't do well in elevators; I think he's full of it, and is working out seventy years' worth of overdue teasing.

As we step out of the elevator and onto the cement, I unlatch the carrier and ease Dr. Pepper down, sighing as the weight is removed from my body. "How can something with a vegetarian diet be so heavy?"

"Well, he's a tortoise. He doesn't do much," Bastion points out, waving to get me to follow him.

We walk around the edge of the pool, and I lean down to scoop my hand through the water. It's cool to the touch, and now my hand bears the scent of chlorine. It's a weirdly calming smell for some reason, easing my nerves at the prospect of meeting the twins Bastion had spoke of.

After climbing a small set of steps, Bastion steps up to a pair of double doors and rings the doorbell. The chime resounds loudly throughout the building, and after a few moments I can hear excited footsteps running toward the door.

"Ben, stand here please," Bastion says, placing his hands on my shoulders and guiding me into his spot, before taking the spot I had just stood in.

"Grandpa B!" the voice of a young boy yells out, flinging the door open with such force that it would probably send someone flying if they got hit with it.

It's then that I realize why Bastion just made us switch places. Right when the boy barrels headfirst into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and sending me rolling, stopping just short of falling into the pool.

And all the while, that damn old man is just laughing his wrinkly butt off.

"H-huh? Who's that?" the boy says in confusion, staring down at me for a moment, and then looking to Bastion. "Grandpa B?"

After Bastion calms down, which takes a good few seconds, and even then he's still straining to keep from bursting into laughter again, he explains, "Leo, this is Ben. He's, um…"

I roll onto my back and slowly sit up. In that moment, I realize that we never took the time to come up with a cover story for why a teenager (or someone who looks like a teenager) is living with an old man. We don't look enough alike for him to call me his grandson, and if this kid's parents were close enough to Kaiser, they've probably met Bastion's other kids, and possibly grandkids too.

"He's my young ward." Bastion says finally. "Yes, that's right. My young ward. Like Batman and Robin."

The boy scratches his head. "I don't know who that is, but whatever you say, Grandpa B." He runs down the stairs to me and holds out his hand. "Sorry about that… are you hurt?"

I take the offered hand and rise to my feet. "A little bruised, but I've had worse," I reply. "Thanks. So, you're Leo?"

"That's right!" he says, grinning at me. "Nice to meet ya!"

I can't help but smile. The way his big green eyes shimmer with excitement, the youthful lilt and his difficulty standing still all remind me of Rally. He wears a short-sleeved white jacked over a dark blue tank top covered in gold markings, his ensemble rounded off by a pair of white shorts held up by a dark blue belt. His hair is long and bluish-green, tied up in a large ponytail with two long bangs that go down well past his chin. On his left arm, he carries a mostly blue Duel Disk, trimmed here and there with a bit of gold, but it's way too big for him; the body of the device is bigger than his head!

"Yeah, you too," I say, rolling my shoulders and giving the old man a pointed look. He grins at me in response. "So, I guess we're here to watch you then?"

"Mmhmm! Me and my sister, Luna," Leo replies. "She's inside. You wanna go meet her?"

Bastion claps his hands together. "Yes, let's all go inside for a meet and greet. Have you two had breakfast yet?"

"Nope!" Leo says with a grin, making me recall the enthusiasm with which young me informed young Bastion that I couldn't read in that memory. "We were waiting on you to get here, you're the best cook Grandpa B! …And I don't know how to turn the oven on."

"That's probably a good thing," Bastion replies, waving us all into the house.

* * *

Somehow, the inside is even more impressive than the outside; a massive entry/living room greets us as we walk in, the opposite wall made up of a single curved window, so tall that it reaches to the upper level and gives a view of the city outside. The upper level has its curtains drawn, but for us, the lower one is open to the city beyond, letting in a yellowish glow from the sunlight.

Once the initial awe wears off, I realize that despite the impressiveness of the window, the sitting room itself is rather bare, with only a blue couch and chair, and a floor lamp between them. I look to Bastion, and he mouths, "Not much company."

Leo runs forward, cups his hands over his mouth and yells, "LUNAAAA! GRANDPA B IS HERE!"

"I know, Leo. I heard you the first time you yelled it," a young girl's voice says from an adjoining hallway to the left.

A girl who can only be Leo's sister emerges. As twins, they admittedly look pretty similar; the only differences I can spot right away are her clothing and her hair. Admittedly, her clothing is almost exactly the same as her brother's, just in different colors; the jacket is pink, her shirt and belt are red, and her shorts are purple. Instead of one ponytail from the back, she has two jutting out of the front like horns, though the bangs are the same. She smiles at us.

"Hi, Grandpa B," she says happily, walking over to us. "Who's this?"

"This is Ben!" Leo introduces, slapping me on the back—well, as high up on my back as he can reach, seeing as he's much shorter than me. I wince a little bit, feeling the sting of his hand on one of the spots where my back slammed against the stairs when he bowled me over a few minutes ago. "He's Grandpa B's young ward! Whatever that means!"

"That means Grandpa B is watching him too. Kind of like how he's watching us," Luna explains. She then leans in to whisper something into Leo's ear, and he gets really sheepish. I can swear I hear her mention something about "family."

"Right, well, come along everyone! Let's get breakfast going. What shall we have?" Bastion asks, leading us all through another hallway into a large kitchen.

"Cereal!" Leo trumpets.

Bastion seems to deflate at that. "I thought you just said that I was the best cook, why do you want cereal?"

"Maybe he doesn't know where the milk is?" I offer, feeling a bit of kinship with this boy.

"Yeah! I don't know where the milk is!" Leo agrees.

"It's in the fridge, Leo…" Luna says, her voice a bit exasperated.

"Oh really? Well you tell me which one of these is the fridge!" Leo says, sweeping his hand around the kitchen.

The appliances are all modern and very… boxy, for lack of a better word. Solid, square, a lot of them, and either black or white to contrast with the checkerboard floor. The counters are black, countertops white, and everything on them some variation of the two colors. It feels like I've stepped into a black-and-white movie, except we're all in color.

Yeah, I can't really tell which one is the fridge—at least, not until Bastion walks up to a particularly tall box and opens up the door, revealing the innards of a fridge.

"Oh. Right."

"How about burritos?" Bastion suggests, pulling ingredients out of the fridge without even waiting for a response. "Yes, burritos sound very good. What say you, Dr. Pepper?"

I almost wait for an answer, but then I remember that it's Dr. Pepper we're talking about, who is a tortoise. Tortoises can't talk.

And then, I realize that Dr. Pepper isn't even in the room with us. "Where's Dr. Pepper?"

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, Dr. Pepper sits on his hind legs, lightly tapping at the front doors with his toes, and lamenting the day Ben came back into his long life.

* * *

While Bastion and Leo begin working on breakfast, Luna and I hurry to the entryway to let Dr. Pepper in. He seems very annoyed as he tromps in, throwing his head about moodily to avoid looking at us.

"Come on, Dr. Pepper! We said we're sorry!" I shout after him as he moseys down the hall. "Stupid tortoise… well, come on, Luna. We'd better get back before they set something on fire… what?" I ask, turning my head to see Luna staring at me—more specifically, my Duel Disk.

"Sorry… this is going to sound weird, but… can I see your cards?" she asks suddenly, folding her arms behind her back.

"My cards?" I repeat, not fully grasping the question at first.

"Just for a second. I'll give them right back," she promises. The way she looks at me with those eyes so similar to her brother's… I find myself handing the cards to her before I even realize what's going on.

She takes the cards gently, running her small hands over them, touching them. Several different emotions flash across her face before she shakily hands them back to me, her expression unreadable.

"What's the matter?" I ask softly, reaching out a hand to steady her.

Luna hesitates for a moment, and then says quietly, "I don't know if you've been somewhere, or if you've been sick or something, but… your deck… your monsters… they miss you."

* * *

By the time we got back, Bastion and Leo had already plated the breakfast burritos and were preparing to move into a sitting room a few doors down. Dr. Pepper is still giving us all the cold shoulder as we enter the comfy-looking room. Again, it has a curved window, smaller than the one in the entryway, but giving a much better view of the City outside, with very little obstruction from other skyscrapers.

Four white armchairs sit arranged in a semicircle around said window, with a large tv resting on a stand in front of it. The walls are a pale pinkish color, decorated with a few paintings that seem a bit out of place but don't draw too much attention. Bastion and Leo have occupied the two rightmost chairs, leaving the other two for Luna and me. I elect to take the one closest to the wall, letting Luna sit next to her brother. Dr. Pepper is sulking in a corner by the window, still refusing to look at us.

"Doc is really mad at us, isn't he?" Leo comments, swallowing a bit of burrito.

Bastion seems to wave it off. "He's not mad at us. Just Ben."

"Why me?!"

"You left him outside!"

"You were the one holding the door!"

Luna giggles softly. "You two fight like Leo and I…"

I look across the room at Bastion, and we grin softly at one another. I suppose that we would argue like brothers, considering our closeness for my entire life. Even though he's an old man, this is something that won't change.

"So Ben, are you a duelist?" Leo blurts out, putting his empty plate on the arm of his chair. "I saw you have a Duel Disk…"

"He is indeed! A very good one at that!" Bastion replies before I can come up with a response. "He's even defeated me a few times! …Eleven times, as a matter of fact."

"I don't remember a lot, but it's a lot more than eleven," I remark. "Eleven hundred maybe."

"It is most certainly not!" Bastion shoots back indignantly, before saying in a quieter, more defeated tone, "…One hundred… and one. But I've won ninety nine times!"

"You've beaten Grandpa B that many times?! You must be a wicked awesome duelist!" Leo says, jumping from his seat and brandishing his Duel Disk at me. It slides down his arm and he quickly scrambles to put it back up to its proper spot. "Come on! Hurry up and duel me!"

I look to Bastion and he smirks at me. I look to Luna, and she smiles and nods a little. I look to Dr. Pepper, and he glares at me before looking back out at the city.

After a moment, I stand up and face him, smoothing down my shirt. "Let's do it. I'll show you just how well a 'young ward' can do, eh?"

"Not here! Outside, you two!" Bastion says sternly. "There's hardly enough room in here for a full duel—it won't be enjoyable in such a cramped space."

After a change of scenery, we find ourselves squaring off at the edge of the pool, one of us on either end of the hourglass and plenty of room between us. Bastion and Luna sit on the steps, enjoying a glass of orange juice in the shade. Dr. Pepper refused to come outside, probably in fear of being left out again.

"**DUEL!"**

_**Ben: 4000 LP / Leo: 4000 LP**_

"How about you take the first turn, Leo? Maybe that'll give you an advantage over my hundred-win streak!" I offer playfully.

"Haha! You'll be regretting that when the Amazing Leo makes his first move! Draw!" Leo declares in a theatrical voice, drawing his first card with the same flair that Bastion drew with when we were younger. "Oh, you're in trouble now! I'm calling out Morphtronic Radion to make some noise!"

The monster appears first as a small radio, with a glowing green screen showing blocky numbers surrounded by hard navy blue plastic. It begins to shake, however, and soon transforms from the small appliance into a slightly larger monster; the display screen forms the upper torso, the speakers forming the lower body and legs, and the plastic covering covers the arms and feet, with a small, reflective black head poking out, with two blinking green eyes and a long antenna sticking out of the head. **(Morphtronic Radion: Level 4, LIGHT, Thunder-type; 1000 ATK/900 DEF)**

"Now for the coolest part—when Radion is in Attack Position, all Morphtronic monsters on my field gain 800 ATK!" Leo exclaims. "Time to energize, Radion!" **(Radion: 1800 ATK)**

"To end things, I'll set one card facedown and pass it over to you, young ward!" Leo states.

"My turn then—draw!" I say, picking up the top card of my deck and adding it to my hand.

I never imagined the day where I'd draw these three cards all in one hand, but here they are—Elemental Heroes Knospe and Poison Rose, and the Magic Card Rose Bud. Nothing I'd particularly like to see together, but since alone, none of my Main Deck Normal Summons can beat over Radion, it's nice to have immediate access to the 1900 ATK Poison Rose. In addition, I have a copy of Miracle Fusion, and Hero Signal, but the card I've drawn is a mystery to me…

"Hero Lantern?" I say aloud, furrowing my brow.

"Oh yes, Ben!" Bastion's voice comes calling from the shade. "While you were out, I took the liberty of adding a few cards back to your Deck! …And a new one, as a late birthday present."

I look over the card; Hero Lantern is a Trap Card, but one that can only be used in the face of a duel-ending attack from the opponent… I decide to hold onto it for now. I'll set it later, if things begin to look bad.

My hand filled, I begin to go over my possible plays; I can immediately go into Gaia and wipe out Radion, but that face-down card could be anything…

"I'll start off my turn by summoning Elemental Hero Knospe, in attack mode!" I shout. "But I won't be keeping him around too long, as I'll be activating the Magic Card Rose Bud, to Special Summon Elemental Hero Poison Rose from my hand!"

In rapid succession, the tiny yellow plantlike hero grows onto my side of the field, and glows brightly, and then begins to grow. The buds that form its head and arms bloom to reveal an actual head and hands, the leaves on its body lengthen into a dress, and she takes on the form of a female humanoid with blue skin. White rose petals trail from her head like hair, and a slim gold tiara set with amethysts rests on her head. **(Elemental Hero Knospe: Level 3, EARTH, Plant-type; 600 ATK/1000 DEF)** **(Elemental Hero Poison Rose: Level 6, EARTH, Plant-type; 1900 ATK/2000 DEF)**

"Whoa… that monster's really cool!" Leo says, looking at my rose maiden. "And you summoned her so easy…"

"And just wait until you see her attack! Go on, Poison Rose—Petal Dance! Attack his Morphtronic Radion!" I order, throwing my arm out like a general from a movie.

Elemental Hero Poison Rose raises her hands above her head and begins to balance on the balls of her feet, slowly spinning faster and faster until she begins to pirouette, shaking her mane of wild white rose petals into a swirling vortex. Said vortex glides across the battlefield toward Morphtronic Radion, until…

"Not so fast! I activate Morphtronic Bind! Ha!" Leo shouts as his facedown card reveals itself. A white laser grid blocks the tornado of rose petals, and Poison Rose stops in her tracks, frozen in place. "As long as I control a Morphtronic monster, all Level 4 of higher monsters you control can't attack or change their battle positions!"

I grimace slightly; it's a good thing I didn't waste Gaia's effect, but I don't have an immediate out to that trap…

"I'll set one card face-down then, and end my turn!" I state, placing Hero Signal facedown. "Your move, Amazing Leo!"

"Many thanks, young ward! I draw!" Leo says triumphantly.

I hear Luna sigh. "I'm not so sure it's such a good thing he's playing along…"

"Leo is much like Ben when he was younger, I don't think he can resist the urge," Bastion muses.

"I'll summon Morphtronic Clocken in Defense Position!" Leo declares. "And I'll immediately use its Defense Position effect to place 1 Morph Counter on it!"

A small squarish digital clock, white in color appears on his field, sitting still as a statue next to Radion. Two round gold bells rest at the top two corners, with a small gold hammer resting motionless between them; a black screen reading "00:01" in blocky white letters finishes off its appearance, before a bluish tint washes over the monster. **(Morphtronic Clocken: Level 2, EARTH, Machine-type; 600 ATK/1100 DEF) (Morph Counters: 1)**

"Next, the Amazing Leo will be activating his Amazing Spell—Morphtronic Accelerator! By returning one Morphtronic card from my hand, I can destroy one card on the field and then draw a card! Can you guess who's going bye-bye?" Leo asks, returning his Trap Card, Morphtronic Monitron.

Poison Rose begins to turn her head to look at me, but she is soon smashed into pixels by an unseen force, and I wince a bit as I see her disappear. _We'll get back at him, Rose… _I promise.

"Here we go! Radion, make some noise! Raucous Rampage!"

Stomping twice like a sumo wrestler, Radion begins to blare ridiculously loud music as it charges toward me, leaping into the air and delivering a hard kick to my stomach, sending me stumbling backward. "Oof!"

_**Ben: 2200 LP / Leo: 4000 LP**_

"And there's more of that just waiting for next turn! Pick your next moves wisely, young ward, for they may be your last!" Leo states in a fake posh voice. "I end my turn!"

_Hehehe… looking for me, boss?_

_Shapeshift?_ My inner voice calls out as I pick up the top card of my deck. Sure enough, Morphy has come to the rescue. _Ha! You're a Level 1—his trap can't stop you!_

_Yeah, there's that… or you could test out one of B's presents!_ Shapeshift suggests as I add him to my hand. _Use Miracle Fusion to bring me and Poison Rose together, we've got an old friend to call on!_

_Whatever you say, Shapey!_

A grin comes to my face, causing Leo to look confused. "Let's go—I summon Elemental Hero Shapeshift, in attack mode! Hit the field, old buddy!"

On cue, Shapeshift somersaults through the air and sticks the landing, holding his arms out as if waiting for applause. He snickers and smirks at Leo, before looking back at me and giving me a thumbs-up. **(Elemental Hero Shapeshift: Level 1, DARK, Warrior-type; 0 ATK/0 DEF)**

"Next, I'll play my own Magic Card—Miracle Fusion! By removing from play Shapeshift from my field, and Poison Rose in my Graveyard, I can Fusion Summon…" I pause, waiting for the name to come back to me; my grin widens even further when it does. "Elemental Hero Wildvine!"

The creature that is formed by this merging is… interesting, to say the least. Familiar, but unfamiliar. I can sense Shapeshift's presence in there, but I can't recall ever using this particular monster. Ten feet tall or more, the creature looks a bit like a possessed plant; the body is not unlike a Venus flytrap, its skin rough and colored a lush green. On either side of its one-eyed head, two jawlike protrusions extend out like the flaps of a Venus flytrap, and it has five long, thin vines used as legs. Its arms are also like vines, with four whiplike fingers on each hand, and several black pods extending from its back. **(Elemental Hero Wildvine: Level 6, DARK, Plant-type; 2400 ATK/2000 DEF)**

"Haha! There he goes!" Bastion yells proudly. "It's Hero time, Ben!"

* * *

**AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE CALLING IT! I'm actually really surprised at how quickly I knocked this chapter out, but I guess now that I'm not going hard on the sentimental stuff it's just flowing a lot easier. Much longer than both of the previous ones, and the theme song is back—with a new one this time! Out of curiosity, do you guys actually enjoy the addition of the theme song at the beginning, or would you prefer it not be there? I like it, just because it makes it more enjoyable in my view, but if you guys don't want it I'll stop. **

**SO! Just as Time Thief predicted, we have our first appearances of Leo and Luna, whose parents were close friends to Bastion's deceased son Kaiser. We also have Dr. Pepper being moody because he got locked out, and the first appearance of one of Ben's new Fusions—Elemental Hero Wildvine! Indeed, it's a Ben 10 reference; interesting fact, before I had Ben using E-Heroes, I was intending to have him use a custom archetype based off of the aliens of the Omnitrix, known as Omnitrix Heroes, but I'll admit that I've played too much of the modern game, and shouldn't design full archetypes for older series. **

**Oh, and once again, Ben fails to find out what "Ben" is short for. **

**Also, apologies if the description of Leo and Luna's place is weird. I'm trying to watch as little of the anime as I can so I can put my own original spin on it, but both the wiki and the show don't do very well at describing it. So, I did my best. Hope it's alright.**

**Anyway, I didn't realize it until I started working on this today, but yesterday, July 3rd, was actually the 1-year anniversary from when I started writing this story! So I figured I'd try and pop this one out quick in celebration. Can't promise such a quick chapter next time, but I'll do what I can! I'm definitely going to try to avoid having a month or more in between chapters this time. **

**Not going to take up any more of your time. I'll put the various effects and such of Wildvine in the next chapter, when we get to fully show him off~**

**As always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~!**

**~Chase**

**P.S.: I can't help but find it extremely funny that I ended this chapter like right at the beginning of the first duel in like 3 chapters lmao**

**Slight edit: had to reupload, I f'ed up Wildvine's description.**


	15. Chapter 15: The True Nature of Dr Pepper

**Chapter 15: The True Nature of Dr. Pepper**

* * *

I stare into the back of the monster before me, scanning up and down its body as I try to force some memory to the surface. Despite being able to feel Shapeshift's presence, the creature I created through Fusion Summon feels… unfamiliar. I know that I must have summoned it at some point, but unlike the other Fusions I've formed, I only feel the basest connection.

It turns its head slightly, just to look back at me. One bulbous pale blue eye stares back at me, and the head between the flytrap jaws gives a subtle nod, its thin mouth an unreadable slash on its green face. Out of habit, I nod back, a gesture of understanding between partners.

Across from us, Leo looks up at the towering plant-creature with pure awe, his eyes sparkling in the bright sunlight. "Whoaaa… who's that Duel Monster?" he asks.

In a robotic tone, reminiscent of a cartoon that Bastion says we would watch occasionally after X-Men no longer aired, the old man explains, "Elemental Hero Wildvine—a Plant-type Fusion monster, formed by fusing Elemental Hero Shapeshift and Elemental Hero Poison Rose." His voice returns to normal as he continues, "A bit unusual, because he isn't a Warrior-type, and because he requires Poison Rose to have been Special Summoned properly, but he's not someone you'd want to be facing down. There's a certain professional duelist who learned that the hard way," he adds with a chuckle.

Leo looks back down to me, and asks in a slightly shocked voice, "Did you defeat Jack Atlas?!"

"No. Not him," Bastion says quickly, before I can even try to remember who Jack Atlas is. "Carry on, you two! We haven't got all day to talk about who Ben has and hasn't beat!"

"No, keep going—I want to know more about this pro too," I suggest, feeling a swell of pride as I try to reckon with the idea that I've defeated a professional duelist, even though it must have been decades ago.

_Nah Boss, let's take 'em down!_ says Shapeshift, though his voice is distorted, garbled, almost as if he's talking through a fan running on high, with his voice deepened slightly. _In this form, I've got an effect that will get us out of this jam!_

I know that Shapeshift is right. I don't want to admit it, but he's right. That quip about the pro duelist is probably all I'll get out of Bastion on the matter, at least for now, and I won't lie, I'm also a bit interested to find out what exactly Wildvine has up his… er… vines? He doesn't actually have sleeves…

_Aww, you forgot my effect already? _Shapeshift asks in a mock-hurt voice.

_I don't even remember using you, if truth be told. Be patient with me,_ I respond.

_You wound me, Boss! But I'll forgive ya! Just follow my lead._

The words begin to spill from my mouth as Shapeshift says them in my mind, the two of us speaking in unison, perfectly in sync. "Now for Wildvine's special effect—once per turn, I can return one of my removed from play Elemental Hero monsters to my Graveyard, and if I do, I can target one card on the field and negate its effects until Wildvine leaves the field! So, by returning Poison Rose, I'll be blocking out your Morphtronic Bind!"

A flash of light emanates from my Graveyard slot as Poison Rose makes her return from being removed from the game. This light coalesces into an orb which shoots forward into Wildvine's back, causing one of the solid black pods to flash a warning red. In response, Wildvine reaches a slender hand back, wraps his spindly fingers around it and tears it off, lobbing it like a grenade through the air and impacting against Leo's Continuous Trap, surrounding the card in a cloud of thick smoke.

"Uh-oh…" Leo says worriedly as the smoke disperses, showing his Trap now a dull gray, as if it were made of stone. A tinge of nervousness shows in his eyes.

Wildvine looks back to me; Shapeshift says nothing this time, but his lips quirk up in a smirk.

_Let's do this, partner, _I tell him. "Elemental Hero Wildvine, take out Morphtronic Radion!"

Silently, he swings an arm backward, the thin vine stretching like a rubber toy before he pivots his body, bringing the arm around and delivering a devastating slap to Radion's face—or, whatever it is that the transforming robot calls a face. The strike caves in the Machine-type's head, smashing it into a billion little pixels that fly back into Leo, who crosses his arms over his face to protect himself from the digital shrapnel.

_**Ben: 2200 LP / Leo: 3400 LP**_

"W-whoa, take it easy!" Leo complains.

"Didn't I always tell you to prepare for counterattacks, Leo?" Bastion chides, sipping a frosty glass of lemonade that looks very satisfying right about now. "Keep your mind open to the possibilities—expect retaliation, and you can survive any encounter!"

_Old man is really looking out for the youth, eh Boss? _Shapeshift says, and I can hear the grin in his distorted voice. _I think I can remember him telling you something like that, decades ago._

_Yeah? But when he said it to me, he was probably trying to make me punch him._ "I'll be ending my turn there! Are you ready for the Hero's Counterattack, Leo?"

"I'm not so sure…"

* * *

_**[Cue in second opening theme: "Sorairo Days" by Nathan Sharpe/NateWantstoBattle (English cover of the first opening for Gurren Lagann)**_

_**Ask if you can hear the sound, of my voice through the cold hard ground,**_

Our first sight is a shot of the Satellite and the City, a diagonal slash dividing the two. Ben and Bastion appear, Ben in the Satellite, Bastion in the City; they face away from one another, facing to the left and right respectively. They reach their hands in front of them, grasping for something off-screen, and close their eyes. The screen is constantly flashing black, and after their eyes shut the screen stops flashing and becomes solid black.

_**I lost it while searching for you, I screamed into the dark,**_

We open back up on a shot of Ben's eyes opening, before zooming out to find him overlooking the City at night, the lights of the buildings shining like thousands of tiny stars. He's all alone, until Shapeshift appears behind him, with several other Heroes joining in further behind.

_**If the world we're living in, has a single soul that you love, **_

Cut to Bastion's house, the living room. The old man and Dr. Pepper sit next to one another on a couch, a photo album propped open before them. We pan over the various pictures, most of the faces obscured by well-placed glare from lights—until coming to a stop on an image of Ben and Bastion in their younger years, dressed in Ra Yellow uniforms with their arms tossed around one another, both grinning.

_**If it holds a shred of meaning, well, then it's worth every fight! **_

A wrinkled hand glides across the photo, before the book is shut. We zoom up on Bastion's face, and for the briefest of moments, he appears youthful again, a flash of determination in his eyes.

_**And when all that we know comes to push and shove,**_

The other characters begin to appear in quick succession, appearing in various poses with their Signer dragons beside or behind them as we begin to pan across the sky. Starting with Yusei and Stardust Dragon, we go next to Jack and Red Dragon Archfiend,

_**Then we will pierce the heavens! **_

Next are Leo and Luna sharing the screen, Power Tool Dragon and Ancient Fairy Dragon behind them. Next is Akiza, her face obscured by her Black Rose Witch mask, Black Rose Dragon roaring and spreading thousands of red petals behind her.

_**The colors we see are new to you and me when we see the sky—**_

The Dragon Star shines brightly in center frame now, red and pulsating. Clouds swirl around it, gray and purple and black, before a sudden burst of red from the star blows them all away. The camera slams downward to see Rally staring up at the sky, and smiling.

_**As we began to run,**_

Jump cut to Ben and Bastion in a Duel Runner, the old man sitting in a side car as they rocket toward the camera, both of them grinning maniacally.

_**So we can finally feel the sun,**_

We zoom out a bit to find ourselves in the Kaiba Dome, with Goodwin watching on from his booth with his back turned.

_**Finally, you and I feel so alive, I feel your beating heart! **_

We now see Yusei and Jack riding alongside one another, Stardust and Red Dragon locked in combat as Ben and Bastion speed between the two. The camera zooms in on Stardust Dragon's wing, using it as the segue into the next scene,

_**If you believe in me, we'll find where we were meant to be—**_

Ben and Akiza in a ground duel appears next, Elemental Hero Shapeshift somersaulting and cartwheeling around the field as Black Rose Dragon attempts to slash at him with its vines. Ben and Akiza's eyes meet, and the rage in Akiza's eyes softens a bit.

_**Now who cares about tomorrow, if today we are free?**_

Leo and Luna walk beside Bastion now, wandering through his immense garden. The old man says something, causing Leo to start laughing as Luna smiles brightly. She looks off to the side and sees Kuribon bouncing along with them.

_**My answer is always "Yes," **_

The cast now stands assembled in front of Bastion's mansion in a freeze frame, centered around Ben; Bastion is to his immediate right, Akiza to his left, Yusei to Bastion's right, Jack to Akiza's left and so on. Rally, Leo and Luna are chasing Dr. Pepper in front, and over Rally's head Ben's face is just barely visible.

_**That I will always be with you.**_

One final cut puts our focus back on the old photo of Bastion and Ben. This time, however, it's elderly Bastion and Ben standing together, still smiling as bright as ever.

* * *

"It's my turn then… I'll draw!" Leo says, trying to keep up the bravado, but when he draws, his hand shakes just so slightly on the flourish. But then he starts to grin. "Oh—looks like I was worried for nothin'! I summon Morphtronic Datatron in Attack Position!"

With the same covert way the rest of his monsters joined the field, so too does a small orange rectangle appear in midair before falling to the ground in a dramatic fashion. It then flips into an upright position, and its top fourth shifts upward slightly to reveal the innards of a flash drive, set with a small face with solid rectangular green eyes and a flat gray mouth. On either side, next to lettering that reads "2 GB," two arms pop out, thin and gray and shielded by orange paneling, with the bottom third popping out in similar thin limbs with orange plastic armor. **(Morphtronic Datatron: Level 3, FIRE, Pyro-type; 1200 ATK/600 DEF)**

"Next, I'll be activating my Clocken's Defense Position effect to add another Morph Counter to it! That means two!" Leo says triumphantly, possibly trying to gauge whether or not I can count.

On Clocken's black display screen, the blocky numbers tick up from 00:01 to 00:02. If it's possible, the monster begins to look somewhat smug to match its master. **(Morph Counters: 2)**

"Now that Clocken has two Morph Counters, I can use its effect to tribute it and inflict 1000 damage to you for each Morph Counter on it!"

It all happens in an instant, a single, annoying instant. The numbers tick back down to 00:00 rapidly, and when it hits zero the small golden hammer atop its head begins to rapidly move back and forth between the bells, letting out an ear-splitting ringing noise that causes me to clamp my hands down over my ears; even from their sitting place, Luna and Bastion are covering their ears as well, not immune from the audio assault. The noise only fades away when Clocken explodes, sending a burst of mechanical components flying through the air and crashing into my stomach.

_**Ben: 200 LP / Leo: 3400 LP**_

I feel my own bravado starting to crash down around me. I hadn't expected such a high damage output from such a small monster…

"And that isn't all! I'm gonna end it right here, by using Datatron's Attack Position effect! By tributing my Datatron, I can inflict even more damage—"

_Now, Ben! Put me back in the Graveyard to stop him!_ Shapeshift's voice comes through loud and clear, unaltered by Wildvine's presence this time. _Quick!_

"Hold it, Leo! I've let you go far enough!" I say, holding up a hand to stop the boy across from me. His eyes widen in surprise. "I might not have told you, but Wildvine's effect can be used on either player's turn—so, by returning Shapeshift to my Graveyard, I'll be negating Datatron's effect! No damage for me!"

Leo grits his teeth. Clearly he was counting on that damage to go through. "Well… I guess I'll have to end my turn too… back to you, young ward! I'll come up with something, since you don't have any more Heroes to return!"

Of course, he's right, but depending on my draw I might be able to end it here… "Draw!"

A sense of familiarity comes over me as I look at the card I drew, which must have been one of Bastion's additions—a Magic Card known as Pot of Greed.

_Pot of Greed, huh? Wonder what it does…_

_Boss, I'll kill you if you ever say that again._ Shapeshift deadpans.

_What? You can't expect me to know what it does, I probably haven't seen this card in over fifty years!_ I shoot back, feeling a slight bit of annoyance toward my supposed partner.

_Relax Ben. It's a joke… sort of. Anyway, just play it, I'll walk you through it._

_I'm trusting you, Shapeshift…_ "I'll play my Magic Card, Pot of Greed—" I begin. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Bastion starting to grin. "Which allows me to…"

I'm suddenly cut off by an angry beeping noise coming from my Duel Disk. The blue orb flashes red, and a robotic voice responds, "Error! Error! Attempt to use Forbidden card detected. Penalty incurred: immediate loss of duel."

And before I can even question what was said, or what in Sam Hill a "Forbidden" card is, my Life Point counter drops down to zero.

_**Ben: 0 LP / Leo: 3400 LP**_

Confusion clouds my mind as I look between Leo, and Luna, and Bastion and even over my shoulder to where I half expect to see Shapeshift. _Did we just lose?_

Shapeshift is just as bewildered as me, apparently. _What… what just happened?_

Even Leo is left scratching his head as our holograms fade away, though it's not at the fact that the duel is over, rather, "Why did you have a Forbidden card in your deck, Ben?" he asks, his brow furrowed. "They haven't even printed Pot of Greed in years, how did you get one?"

Bastion, however, is absolutely _howling_ with laughter. He's set his glass to the side and is shaking like a leaf in a breeze, kicking his legs and hooting as if he's just told the world's funniest joke.

My eyes narrow, and at once I know what has happened. I turn to face the old man, feeling a great deal of rage, and also an odd sense of enjoyment, running through my veins, my blood boiling as I somehow find myself trying to keep from laughing.

In five long strides I cross to the steps, breaking into a run halfway through as I let our lifelong friendship blind me to his actual age. Before I even realize it I'm lowering my head to tackle the old man… but then I feel his arm around my waist, and then I feel myself lifted off the ground as I recall the hard muscles I felt, and then I find myself laid out on the ground, even more confused than before.

Bastion just keeps laughing and laughing. Leo starts laughing too, with Luna joining in with quiet giggles. Even Dr. Pepper seems to be trying to laugh, opening and closing his weathered beak silently.

And then the battle within me between anger and humor ends in a decisive victory for humor as I start to laugh too, setting my head back on the concrete floor as tears come to my eyes. I laugh harder and harder, squeezing my eyes shut and clutching my stomach. After a while, Leo and Luna settle down, but Bastion and I keep laughing raucously.

Our laughter mingles in the air like a choir, old and young, and in that moment, as I close my eyes, it almost feels like nothing changed at all. Seventy years haven't passed. We're not ancient, he doesn't have kids, or grandkids, or a wife; our parents are still here, and I never went into this seven-decade coma.

For a short period of time… I feel at home again.

* * *

After the bit of excitement that arose from my attempted physical assault on my elderly best friend calmed down, we headed inside to enjoy a glass of lemonade for all of us. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical when Bastion informed me that Dr. Pepper had made it, but when I saw him standing with his front feet on top of a juice press, I was willing to give it a shot.

It was very good. Best lemonade I've ever had… probably.

Anyway, as we sit enjoying the lemonade made by that mysterious tortoise who somehow understands how to operate a juice press, I decide to question Bastion about his little gag with Pot of Greed.

"So Bastion, mind telling me about that little gag with Pot of Greed?" I question, sipping at the frosty glass of sweet and sour liquid. Most of what Bastion has at his home is either prune juice or water, and I'd really rather not talk about what we had to drink in the Satellite; my point being, this lemonade is probably the best drink I've had in a long time.

"Oh, right. The thing you tried to attack me over," the old man muses with a smirk on his face. "Well, as the years have passed and the game has grown, they've implemented various lists of cards that can and cannot be used in order to keep the game balanced—a Forbidden and Limited List, to be precise. Forbidden cards cannot be used at all, and then you can only have one of each Limited card in your deck, or two Semi-Limited."

"And Pot of Greed is forbidden?" I piece together.

"Quite so. And, as you found out, the penalty for using a Forbidden card is typically immediate forfeiture," Bastion concludes.

He seems to have forgotten that Leo and Luna are in the room as well, both of whom are now looking at us in an odd manner, probably wondering why he needs to explain something that should be common knowledge. In order to cover his tracks, he adds on with a slight cough, "Of course, you should already know this. But, I suppose that you are rather forgetful, so it can be forgiven."

"Right…" I say, giving him a little glare when he calls me forgetful. "So you added Pot of Greed to my Deck because you knew I would play it, and then I would lose."

His smirk widens into a grin. "Indeed."

"I hate you."

The twins are quiet, possibly feeling a little awkward after seeing me lunge at their surrogate grandfather.

After a moment, Luna speaks up. "Um, Ben… during your duel, your monsters…"

Leo looks over to his sister in surprise. "Luna…"

"It's okay, Grandpa B trusts him, so I do too," she replies, patting her brother's arm. She turns her bright green eyes on me and says, "You heard them talking to you, didn't you? Your monsters?"

Immediately I look to Bastion; I'm sure that I must have told him about all this when we were younger. He gives a short nod, so I nod to Luna. "Yeah… how did you know?"

"I can hear them too," she explains. "I've always had some sort of connection with the Spirit World of Duel Monsters, ever since I was little. That's how I knew what your deck was saying earlier."

Right, she had said that… I suppose in hindsight, her telling me that my deck missed me makes much more sense now. A different person might be skeptical of this whole "Spirit World" business, but someone like me sitting here with a shapeshifting superhero cartwheeling around in my mind singing showtunes doesn't have any right to be skeptical.

_So, you guys missed me, huh?_ I ask, leaving the question open to any other Hero voices who might want to make an appearance.

Unfortunately, it's only Shapeshift who responds. _Don't make me say it again, Boss… and what do you mean 'unfortunately?!' That's cold, Boss!_

Ignoring the form-changing Hero's protests, I instead respond, "So, you can hear the idiots too then?"

Bastion decides to interject with, "Yes, Ben. We can all hear you, as a matter of fact."

If I didn't still ache a bit from my attempt earlier, I would have thrown myself at him again. But since I do, I instead send him an annoyed look, but otherwise say nothing.

"Well, they're not really idiots…" Luna says. "They miss you. All of them."

"All of them?" I repeat. "You hear more than just Shapeshift?"

She nods. "They all have their own voice… but they said you aren't able to hear them. They wish you were."

I'm left unsure of how to actually respond to this; thankfully, Leo saves the day by cutting in.

"So, who's this Pro Duelist that you beat, Ben?" Leo asks suddenly, leaning forward in his seat and clutching his lemonade to his chest. "You said it wasn't Jack Atlas… was it Hunter Pace? Or Bolt Tanner? Or…" he goes on listing names that I can't place.

"Oh no, nobody like them," Bastion says with a chuckle. He takes a drink from his glass and lets out a sigh of enjoyment. "Someone who could take all of them without even being able to read his cards."

"Who? Who?!" Leo asks, his eyes wide with interest.

"Who? Who?!" I ask, trying to prompt my annoying best friend for some more info about my past.

"Aster Phoenix, though I don't suppose you'll know much about him, Leo. Long before your time," Bastion responds.

The name is familiar, calling back a blurry image, with a voice yelling about a group of monsters called the Destiny Heroes… but it's gone in an instant.

"That was the first time you used Wildvine, as a matter of fact… although unlike this time, you actually won," Bastion muses, grinning at me.

_Old bastard is enjoying this…_ I grumble in my head.

_Can you blame him? He has seventy years of messing with you to get through,_ Shapeshift replies.

"So, does Ben have, like, amnesia or something?" Leo inquires.

"Leo! That's not polite," Luna scolds gently, lightly swatting her brother's arm.

"Quit it! I'm only asking because…"

"Yeah, I do," I cut in, waving it off. "It's alright, Luna… I'm missing a _lot_ of memories. I only just remembered his name a few days ago," I explain, gesturing to Bastion with my thumb.

I decide to leave out the part where I'm apparently almost ninety years old; somehow I don't think they'll be quite so receptive to that as they are the idea of card spirits.

* * *

That night, I find out that Bastion, Dr. Pepper and I will actually be staying with them for the next week or so until their parents return, rather than driving home and back every day. I suppose that's probably for the best, otherwise we'd waste quite a bit of… whatever energy source fuels cars nowadays.

However, I didn't expect to find myself in this enormous house sharing a room with those two.

As I float through the air, I get a good glimpse of it all. Pale red walls, thick, dark carpet which is practically black in the dark night; two twin beds, dressed with red sheets and blankets, one occupied by Bastion, the other by myself and Dr. Pepper. I can see how my body curls to fit around the tortoise's shell, as if by muscle memory…

…Wait—did I just say I can see myself? Floating through the air?

At once, I realize that I'm having an out of body experience, or else an extremely vivid dream, and when I do, I'm whisked out of the room through the closed window. Bright light consumes me, blinding me, dulling my senses.

And when it dissipates, I know at once that I'm back in my memories.

* * *

The grounds of the mansion are lush and green, covered in trees and bushes and all sorts of other plant life. Rabbits and deer and birds make their homes on the grounds, far into the woods on the property.

How I know this, I'm not sure, as from where I stand now, it doesn't seem like there's any sort of life forms other than me for a thousand miles.

Quickly I come to the realization that I'm a child again, much like when I first reacquainted myself with Morph. I'm so much shorter than everything around me, standing at much less than half the height of most of these trees, so I figure that I can't be more than seven or eight years old here.

Deep down, I know that I'm supposed to be looking for something. As I wade through the bushes, which are nearly chest-high on me, my eyes scan the ground for… whatever the object of my search is. Something lost, I know, but what?

Instinctively, I try to call out for Shapeshift, but the moment I do so I remember that I'm in some memory, and probably won't hear back.

So on I search, all alone in my mind, eventually dropping down to all fours and crawling through the dirt. Branches and twigs scrape at my arms and tug my clothes, but I hardly feel them through the haze of memory.

Somewhere off to my left, I hear a rustling. As I break out of a particularly thick bush, I look over and see… a baseball, rolling out of apparently nowhere. I perk up, understanding that this is what I'm supposed to find, but… something about this isn't right. There's something in me that's telling me that the memory didn't go this way, and I should be on guard.

I don't heed that advice, though, and scramble toward the baseball. Just when my hand closes around the rough white sphere, she steps into my path: a young girl in a white dress, with blonde hair and… no face.

My eyes go wide, and I start backing up quickly, regretting that I didn't listen to my intuition at first. She just stands there, tilting her head, face a blank stretch of skin; I can only assume she's looking at me. Am I in my memories still, or a dream?

_A nightmare._ A voice from nowhere tells me.

The girl takes a step toward me. Pressure wells up in my chest, and I clamber backward like a crab, trying to get away. She steps closer. I don't seem to be moving at all.

She starts closing the distance between us, her intentions unknowable, until I hear something that I never thought I'd be quite so happy to hear. "Away from the boy!" _Magure._

Brandishing his gleaming twin knives, Magure leaps into the girl's path directly in front of me, crossing his arms over his chest so that the tips of his daggers appear over his shoulders. He turns his head, one good eye focusing on me. "Are you alright, Young Master?" he asks. At my lack of response, he turns back to her and concludes, "Rest easy. I'll dispel this and have you out of harm's way soon…"

In a blink of an eye, it's all over. The girl is gone. The forest fades away. Again, I'm left alone in the blackness with Magure.

My heart is beating rapidly, but I force myself to calm down as the apparent danger disappears. "What… was that?" I ask, looking up at the purple-haired man who has come to my rescue again.

He grunts. "You began in a memory, if that makes any sense, but… somehow, someone or something hijacked it, bringing you into a nightmare. That girl you saw… she was a part of that memory, for certain, but you two did not meet until much later. Nor did you find the baseball until much later."

This is all making my head spin, if truth be told, but I nod along as if I'm actually understanding. "Right. Nightmare."

Magure sighs, apparently seeing through my ruse. "I don't know why I'm trying to explain, you wouldn't understand if I spelled it out for you. The point is, that was a memory… with a sinister turn."

"Uh-huh."

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "I know I'm a thief, but did I really deserve this…" He shakes his head.

We stand in silence for some time, until I finally blurt out, "I figured out your name."

I don't know why I said it; it isn't even true, but he perks up significantly at that. His one green eye widens, and a small smile begins tugging at his lips. The initial annoyance seems gone. "Do tell, Young Master."

I try to come up with some sort of bluff, even though I know that any try will just end with him being disappointed again.

But then… I find myself thinking back to the duel with Bastion, and the blank card I drew, and… "Don Zaloog."

His smile widens. "You're correct… partly. There's another name you'll know me under, but I know it will come back to you."

From somewhere in the darkness, a rooster calls. This is doubly odd, because at this moment I'm not entirely sure what a rooster actually is, or why it is even calling.

"Ah… looks like it's time for us to part, for now. I'll see you soon, Young Master," Don Zaloog says, just as I find myself having so many questions.

"Wait—" I try to say, but as I hear the words come from my mouth, I'm sitting up in my bed, wide awake.

I look around at the room, now illuminated by the morning sun. Bastion's bed is empty, and Dr. Pepper is still sitting with my legs curled around him, aching something fierce from being in this position all night long.

"That… was weird," I say, sighing and pulling my legs up to my chest. I try to recall every detail, from the forest, to the baseball, to the faceless girl…

"You're telling me," says a voice from in the room. It's not in my head, like Shapeshift, which admittedly throws me off. I start to look around, more confused than startled, knowing that the only living things in here are me and…

"Dr. Pepper? Did you hear anything?" I ask, for some reason expecting a response from the shelled reptile.

I look down to him, and he looks back at me silently. I sigh again. "…Didn't think so."

"I said something, actually," says the voice again. A voice I recognize as Magure's.

My eyes lock with Dr. Pepper's, trying to wrap my head around this situation. "I'm definitely going crazy…"

Then, Dr. Pepper opens his mouth, and says, "Good morning, Young Master!"

"WHAT THE FU—"

* * *

**AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE CUTTING IT! So, how about that duel, eh? Anticlimactic? Acceptable? The product of a tired mind? How do you guys like how I implemented the Forbidden/Limited lists to explain a lack of Pot of Greed in 5D's—and then Ben attacking Bastion for knowingly putting a forbidden card in his deck?  
**

**Oh, and how about that big Magure/Dr. Pepper reveal? Anyone see that coming? Who's this blonde girl that Ben saw in his memory? Well… it's probably not that hard to guess, but who knows! Oh, and name dropping Aster, how about that? Huh? Huh?**

**Anyway, I'm not gonna say much this time. Apologizing if there's a dip in quality at any point in this chapter, I recently got a new job and they've had me doing training for the past week, which involved me driving two hours every day there and back so I haven't had near as much time to write as I'd hope. And just letting you all know, it might be a couple more weeks until I get the hang of the job. I'll see you all soon though!**

**Anyways, as always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE~!**

**~Chase**

**Oh yeah—and here's Wildvine.**

**Elemental Hero Wildvine**

**Level 6**

**DARK**

**Plant/Fusion/Effect**

"**Elemental Hero Poison Rose" + "Elemental Hero Shapeshift"**

**This card can only be Fusion Summoned using the above cards as Fusion Material. "Elemental Hero Poison Rose" must have been properly Special Summoned to use it as Fusion Material. Once per turn, you can return 1 of your removed from play "Elemental Hero" monsters to your Graveyard to target one card on the field, and if you do, its effects are negated as long as this card remains face-up on the field. This effect can be activated during the Main Phase of either player's turn.**

**ATK: 2400 / DEF: 2000**


	16. Chapter 16: The Black Rose

**Chapter 16: The Black Rose**

* * *

"BASTIOOOOON!" my voice echoes down the hallway as I run, barefoot and dressed in little more than a blue and pink tie-dye shirt and short black shorts. The tile flooring is cold against my feet in the early morning, but I pay it no mind, the intense beating of my heart and the mix of abject terror and absolute bewilderment pushing every thought and instinct out of my mind aside from finding the old man.

"Huh? Ben?" I hear Leo's voice say as I near the end of the hall, heading toward the entry room. Soon enough, his floppy green ponytail is peeking into view, round green eyes widening in shock as he witnesses the mess that I must be rushing at him. "W-whoa! Ben! What's the matter? Look out!"

I don't have time to answer him, my body is in some sort of autopilot; I'm coming up on him fast, but perhaps three or four feet away from him I crouch low and launch myself into the air, the world around me spinning as I somersault over him. Where I found the agility to perform such a maneuver, I can't say, but before Leo can process what just happened I'm tearing off down the hallway again.

"Uhhh… he's in the kitchen!" Leo calls after me, already sounding distant as I dash through the house at speeds so fast that even one of my heroes might have trouble keeping up. It feels like I'm moving so quickly that I probably could have ran the Pipeline like this.

"Thank you!" I toss back, not sure if he can even hear me at this point.

It only feels like a few seconds have passed before I find myself in the same kitchen Bastion had cooked for us in yesterday. The old man is bent over the stove, making some sort of meal with lots and lots of eggs in it, humming to himself about how when all you've got to keep is strong, move along, move along like he knows you do.

"BASTION!" I howl, crossing the room in a few terrified steps and dropping to my knees, throwing my arms around the old man's waist.

He looks away from the oven and says rather casually, "Oh, good morning Ben. Did you sleep well?"

I look up at him in disbelief. I just ran through the house screaming his name, and he's asking if I slept well?!

"I'm making tacos for breakfast again, with fish this time," he says brightly. Only then does he seem to notice my apparent distress, as I kneel here, clinging onto his waist for dear life and panting like a maniac. "Something wrong?"

"S-something wrong?!" I splutter. "Y-YES, SOMETHING IS WRONG!"

"Well, would you care to tell me it? I'm your best friend, but that doesn't mean I can read your mind." The way he says it seems to suggest he isn't too bothered by this situation. Have I had freak-outs like this before? Or is he just naturally cool as a cucumber?

Whatever it is, I can't help but wonder how I haven't punched him before, though the fact that he was so prepared to toss me over his shoulder yesterday suggests I probably have.

"Oh, good morning Dr. Pepper. I'm making fish tacos for breakfast, would you care for some?" Bastion asks nonchalantly as the tortoise moseys on into the room.

"No thank you, old man!" he says in Magure's voice. "Though I will take some eggs with my fruit. Sunny side up, if you please."

"Very well. I thought you liked them fried, though?" Bastion replies, unfazed by the shelled reptile crawling across the floor and, well, talking.

"I do, but now that my voice is back, I want to use it as much as I can!"

"BASTION! THE TORTOISE IS TALKING! WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS IS A NORMAL THING?!"

"It is a normal thing?" Bastion shrugs, using a spatula to push the eggs around some, scrambling them up for the tacos. "I told you he talked, didn't I?"

"NO!"

"Are you sure? I think that I did… Chapter 11, I believe? No, perhaps you were unconscious at that point, you've done that quite a bit since coming to live with me…" he ponders, tossing some fish into a sizzling skillet, the oil crackling and popping as the meat is added. "Well, anyway, Dr. Pepper can talk."

"I can do much more than talk, Young Master!" Dr. Pepper says proudly. "I can sing like an angel! _I tried so hard, and got so faaaaa—_"

"Please don't," Bastion cuts him off. "The last time you sang, Jesse wanted me to make you into a stew, do you remember that?"

My head starts spinning from all this absurdity. The tortoise talks. Bastion knows the tortoise talks. The tortoise apparently sings, too, but Bastion doesn't like that one bit. Bastion is making tacos again; he's made tacos every day, can he actually make anything else?

All this and more cause me to steadily begin to lose my balance, until I'm falling…

Falling…

Falling…

…falling…

* * *

_**Ask if you can hear the sound, of my voice through the cold hard ground,**_

Our first sight is a shot of the Satellite and the City, a diagonal slash dividing the two. Ben and Bastion appear, Ben in the Satellite, Bastion in the City; they face away from one another, facing to the left and right respectively. They reach their hands in front of them, grasping for something off-screen, and close their eyes. The screen is constantly flashing black, and after their eyes shut the screen stops flashing and becomes solid black.

_**I lost it while searching for you, I screamed into the dark,**_

We open back up on a shot of Ben's eyes opening, before zooming out to find him overlooking the City at night, the lights of the buildings shining like thousands of tiny stars. He's all alone, until Shapeshift appears behind him, with several other Heroes joining in further behind.

_**If the world we're living in, has a single soul that you love, **_

Cut to Bastion's house, the living room. The old man and Dr. Pepper sit next to one another on a couch, a photo album propped open before them. We pan over the various pictures, most of the faces obscured by well-placed glare from lights—until coming to a stop on an image of Ben and Bastion in their younger years, dressed in Ra Yellow uniforms with their arms tossed around one another, both grinning.

_**If it holds a shred of meaning, well, then it's worth every fight! **_

A wrinkled hand glides across the photo, before the book is shut. We zoom up on Bastion's face, and for the briefest of moments, he appears youthful again, a flash of determination in his eyes.

_**And when all that we know comes to push and shove,**_

The other characters begin to appear in quick succession, appearing in various poses with their Signer dragons beside or behind them as we begin to pan across the sky. Starting with Yusei and Stardust Dragon, we go next to Jack and Red Dragon Archfiend,

_**Then we will pierce the heavens! **_

Next are Leo and Luna sharing the screen, Power Tool Dragon and Ancient Fairy Dragon behind them. Next is Akiza, her face obscured by her Black Rose Witch mask, Black Rose Dragon roaring and spreading thousands of red petals behind her.

_**The colors we see are new to you and me when we see the sky—**_

The Dragon Star shines brightly in center frame now, red and pulsating. Clouds swirl around it, gray and purple and black, before a sudden burst of red from the star blows them all away. The camera slams downward to see Rally staring up at the sky, and smiling.

_**As we began to run,**_

Jump cut to Ben and Bastion in a Duel Runner, the old man sitting in a side car as they rocket toward the camera, both of them grinning maniacally.

_**So we can finally feel the sun,**_

We zoom out a bit to find ourselves in the Kaiba Dome, with Goodwin watching on from his booth with his back turned.

_**Finally, you and I feel so alive, I feel your beating heart! **_

We now see Yusei and Jack riding alongside one another, Stardust and Red Dragon locked in combat as the pair speeds out of frame.

_**If you believe in me, we'll find where we were meant to be—**_

Ben and Akiza in a ground duel appears next, Elemental Hero Shapeshift somersaulting and cartwheeling around the field as Black Rose Dragon attempts to slash at him with its vines. Ben and Akiza's eyes meet, and the rage in Akiza's eyes softens a bit.

_**Now who cares about tomorrow, if today we are free?**_

Leo and Luna walk beside Bastion now, wandering through his immense garden. The old man says something, causing Leo to start laughing as Luna smiles brightly. She looks off to the side and sees Kuribon bouncing along with them.

_**My answer is always "Yes," **_

The cast now stands assembled in front of Bastion's mansion in a freeze frame, centered around Ben; Bastion is to his immediate right, Akiza to his left, Yusei to Bastion's right, Jack to Akiza's left and so on. Rally, Leo and Luna are chasing Dr. Pepper in front, and over Rally's head Ben's face is just barely visible.

_**That I will always be with you.**_

One final cut puts our focus back on the old photo of Bastion and Ben. This time, however, it's elderly Bastion and Ben standing together, still smiling as bright as ever.

* * *

I hadn't even realized it, but I must have passed out at some point after the tortoise began talking about eggs, as when I wake up in one of the sitting rooms, a different one from last time, a digital clock on the wall reads "11:30," almost noon. I hope. Looking out the window, I can confirm it's still daytime, the sun now shining brightly down on New Domino.

Slowly, I sit up on the couch I've been placed on, looking around at the empty room. Deep orange walls the color of sunset, light brown carpet, plush brown chairs and couches, and a curved window jutting out into the cityscape; if it weren't for the color differences, it would be impossible to tell the difference between it and the room we had eaten breakfast in the day before.

Sun slants in through the window, casting a lattice of shadows across the room like the bars of a dark jail cell, crawling across carpet and couch and chair and up my legs ending at my waist. _Jail… _I think, reflecting to my initial incarceration when I first arrived in New Domino. _I got freed, but Yusei…_

_Yusei…_ I can't remember the last time I thought of him, but for some reason as I stare down at the shadows covering the room, he comes to mind. I haven't seen or heard hide nor hair of him or about him since coming here; I suppose he wasn't quite so lucky to have an eighty-seven-year-old best friend fully prepared to spring him from police custody.

"I see you're awake, Young Master," comes the quiet voice of Magure from just out of my line of sight. "You gave us quite a scare when you passed out like that."

I can't help but tense as I hear his voice, and it all comes flooding back. The dreams and memories of Bastion and I's youth; the nightmare of the blonde girl with no face, and the woman's voice screaming about not letting me be taken from her, and her crushing grip; the blank card, Don Zaloog; the fact that he's speaking to me from inside a tortoise…

Hesitantly, I move my legs from the reclining position and pivot around to face his voice. Deep down, I'm hoping that I'm just hearing things; surely hearing voices is less crazy than hearing those voices coming from the mouth of a tortoise, right?

_No, Boss. Either way you're going mad,_ Shapeshift chimes in. _But you can just ask the old man—we're all mad here._

_Hush you. As a voice in my head that isn't mine, you're not exactly helping the case for my sanity either, _I shoot back as I turn my head to look upon what I hope to be… well… I'm not really sure what I'm hoping I'll see. Considering my first meeting with Magure came from my dreams, it wouldn't be any less worrying to see a muscular man with shining daggers and a gleaming golden eyepatch manifested in the middle of a high-class New Domino apartment.

At first, I don't see anything out of the ordinary aside from a plate of half-finished scrambled eggs and fruit resting on the footstool of a chair in the back left corner of the room. But then, as my nervous eyes walk the length of the floor, they settle upon the small greenish head of Dr. Pepper, his right eye swollen shut with age, the other an intelligent green, closer to an emerald than the color of his own skin.

_Green left eye… right eye closed,_ I observe, recalling the image of Magure in my mind, with an eyepatch over his right eye, and his left eye… _Weren't his eyes black?_ It all has to be a coincidence, for sure. I can't seriously be making connections between a reptile and some guy I dreamed of…

After I stare at Dr. Pepper without a single word passing between us for perhaps two, maybe three minutes, or what feels like two or three minutes, I finally breathe out, half-relieved, half-even more nervous, "I… just imagined it. Yeah. I'm not losing it. Maybe it's just the… stress. Yeah. The stress of finding out that I'm almost ninety years old even though I look and feel like a teenager. That's it. Yeah…"

And just as I'm sure I haven't convinced you of this, I promise I haven't even convinced myself of this.

A few seconds after I say this, Dr. Pepper begins to open and close his mouth silently, as if he's chewing something. My eyes quickly flash back to the eggs and fruit and wonder if he had been chowing down on those… do tortoises eat eggs?

But before I can ponder the diets of shelled reptiles further, my stress theory is disproved as the creature begins to speak.

"Let me assure you, Young Master, that no matter what that fool Shapeshift may tell you, you are not going mad," he announces in a bold voice, his green eye moving to stare at my forehead with such intensity that he may as well be trying to bore a hole through it. "If you had even a fraction of the memories from your teenage years unlocked, you would not even question your sanity."

_I'm not a fool! Are you hearing this guy?!_ Shapeshift complains, and I can practically feel him standing on my shoulder glaring at the cold-blooded creature like an angel—or devil—from a cartoon. _Take him out, Ben!_

_You take him out!_ I respond in a mental tone meant to silence him, finding myself looking back into the bright green eye of Dr. Pepper.

"Ignore our feuding if you would, Young Master. He defeated me once many years ago, and insists that he will always be better. Very childish of him," Dr. Pepper says admonishingly.

Just as he had before he started to talk, I open and close my mouth several times, suddenly dry lips smacking together as I try to string together a sentence in my mind, or even implore my vocal chords to produce some sort of noise. Eventually, I'm able to let out a simple, "How are you…?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. Though I do not think that's what you meant to ask, is it? You are probably more curious as to how I'm speaking to you from the body of a tortoise."

Rather than give him an answer one way or the other, I gape at him silently, eventually able to give him a dumb nod as some sort of response, though whether I really want to know or if I'd prefer to continue blissfully believing none of this is happening, I can't say.

Heedless to my actual response, he continues as if I'd given him an affirmative reply. "Well, the long of it is… perhaps a bit too complicated to reveal at this point. The short of it—you showed me a great deal of mercy long ago, when you and the old man were still young." He coughs—the idea of a tortoise coughing seems somehow even more ludicrous to me than a tortoise talking—and corrects himself, "When the old man was still young, I mean. You showed me mercy, and I've owed you a debt ever since."

"…And you were already a tortoise?"

"No. I was… much like Shapeshift, and the rest of your team of Heroes," Dr. Pepper… Magure… responds.

"In my head…?"

"No, Ben. I was real. Well, a human, at least." He pauses. "Well, that's not quite right either. You recall the girl Luna—what she said to you about your deck missing you? The spirits of the cards were reaching out to her to tell her to tell you that; I was a card spirit. Forgive me, this is difficult to explain, as this is something you once knew."

"Uh-huh," I reply, trying to process even the slightest bit of information. So he was a ghost of some sort?

_No, Boss. Not a ghost. A card spirit. All of us cards have spirits, but it takes someone really special to converse with them, like you do with us, _Shapeshift says, his tone suggesting he actually wants to be helpful now. _Peppy here was a card spirit, but he was able to manifest in the real world._

"Real as you or the old man, Young Master. Or Godzilla, for that matter," Dr. Pepper confirms. "But come along—the old man is making some lunch just down the hall, you must be hungry."

My stomach grumbles in response. He's right, I am hungry. At a loss for words, but hungry.

But something sticks out in my mind… "Wait, Godzilla is real?"

"Yes, very. How do you think the Satellite got to be that way?" Dr. Pepper responds, moseying on out of the room as I go whiter than a ghost in a white paint factory.

"Good God…"

* * *

Despite this… somewhat civil talk with Dr. Pepper, I haven't been able to feel any way other than uneasy through lunch and to now, as we spill out of the elevator and make toward Bastion's car.

There's six of us—Bastion, Dr. Pepper and myself, as well as Leo and Luna, and a new arrival in the form of their friend Dexter.

He's an inch or two shorter than the twins, with brown hair spread out over his head and styled to form what looks like an M in the front, with a lightning bolt-shaped section hanging down on the left side. A pair of curious brown eyes stick out from behind a set of thick square glasses, and he wears a white collared shirt with navy blue shorts held up by red suspenders, matched by an equally red bowtie.

"B, are you sure this is a good idea…?" I ask, tugging on the old man's sleeve as the kids pile into the back seat, Leo pulling Dr. Pepper in to sit between them. "This 'Black Rose' character… she sounds kind of dangerous, especially for kids their age."

Bastion, however, doesn't seem to pay it any mind. "She's of no concern to us, Ben. She's an urban legend. We'll take them around the city and let them have their fun, and when we turn home disappointed we'll get them ice cream and they'll forget this ever even happened."

As this plan registers in my mind, I can't help but comment, "You sound like a dad."

"Not only a dad, a granddad," Bastion points out, a wry smile on his face. "Come on, let's get going. We're wasting daylight!"

And so begins our search for the mysterious Black Rose.

When I had come out of the sitting room after my initial fainting spell earlier, Leo had been talking in a rather animated fashion to Bastion about some female duelist known only as the Black Rose. According to rumor, she's a cloaked figure with a mask and apparent psychic powers who goes around in the Underground circuit dueling and causing immense damage.

Dr. Pepper claimed that she had reportedly killed someone before, but since he tried to dupe me by saying Godzilla was real, I'm not inclined to trust a thing that comes out of his mouth from here on.

The engine of Bastion's car roars to life at once, its low grumbling resounding through the parking garage in a manner that reminded me of my now-destroyed Duel Runner, causing my thoughts to stray back to Yusei for a moment. _How will I tell him that I just ditched my Duel Runner like that…? He'll understand that it was either that, or get crushed by garbage, right?_

_No, probably not. He'll be extremely angry, I bet,_ Shapeshift says sarcastically. _Ben, don't worry about it so much. He's your friend—he'll just be glad you're okay._

I stare out the window as we drive, oblivious to the conversation going on in the back between the kids. I'm sure it's more rumors about the Black Rose, but if she's as mythical as Bastion claims she is, I wouldn't be surprised if they were going to claim she's a vampire.

As I watch the buildings pass us by, I notice that the massive luxury skyscrapers of the inner city start disappearing, becoming replaced with architecture that probably would have been commonplace in the Satellite before its destruction. Squat blocky buildings made of cement with whitewashed walls and square windows stand side by side with old brick garages that probably haven't been opened in years; the pristine pale gray streets age into crumbling asphalt, the lush trees that line the sidewalks dead or dying the further we get into this area.

Feeling a bit nervous, I speak up for the first time on the ride—"B… where are we?"

"The Daimon Area," Bastion replies, pressing a button on his door and engaging the lock system with a mechanical click. "A wretched hive of scum and villainy, they say that the Black Rose likes to frequent this area."

"…Is that so," I say, again questioning the old man's logic at bringing kids here.

As we approach the ruins of a decaying amusement park, the state of the buildings starts to worsen even further. Ancient paint chips away to reveal the bricks underneath; dirty windows shattered long ago peer into dark buildings; here and there, beat-up looking men in tattered clothing mill about, giving our car dirty looks as we pass.

"This place… is even worse than the Satellite," I mutter, hearing the words slipping from my mouth before I can even think. A harsh, and likely incorrect accusation, I'm sure, but it's all just so… broken.

"Oh, you haven't even seen the half of it Ben," Bastion comments, pulling our car down an alley and parking it. "Alright, everybody out! The hunt for the Black Rose begins!"

I shoot him a look. "I thought you said we were just going to drive around?" I ask slowly, hoping that he had just forgotten he said it.

"We were… before I caught site of that," Bastion says, pointing further down the street where a large crowd is gathered… and towering above them, a gray orc and a blue wolf, glaring furiously at one another.

"Holy cow, a real Underground duel!" Leo says excitedly, unbuckling his seatbelt and nearly vaulting from the car. As he dashes out in front of the hood and peeks out at the duel unfolding, I can practically see every muscle in his body tense with anticipation.

And when I see the spryness with which Bastion exits the car as well, I can't help but feel like he had no intention to just drive around after all.

Looking around cautiously at our surroundings, I step out, soles of my tennis shoes kicking away gravel and rubble. For a split second as I watch the rays of the sun slicing down alleyways as the great yellow orb starts to duck behind skyscrapers in the west of the city, I almost feel like I'm back in the Satellite, except with slightly different, slightly weirder smells.

Luna sticks by my side as she and Dr. Pepper climb out of the vehicle, clearly just as ill at ease as myself. "I don't like the looks of this place," she admits softly, her eyes cast downward as we walk to join the others. "I'm… getting a really bad feeling about this."

Feeling an impulse of protectiveness toward the girl, I reach over and place a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry so much, Luna… Bastion wouldn't put us in any situation that he wasn't himself fully confident in," I say reassuringly.

Dr. Pepper starts to laugh, and I can't help but jump slightly. After shooting the reptile a glare, I understand why he laughed… well, _probably_ why he laughed.

"Well, he probably _would_ put me in a situation like that, but not you guys. He'd never want to see you get hurt," I say, correcting my previous statement.

She looks at me oddly for a moment. "But you're his ward, aren't you? Why would he do that to you?"

I find myself pausing, realizing that whether or not it was true, I probably shouldn't say stuff like that around someone who looks up to him like a grandfather. "Just a little joke, he'd never do that to anyone."

Dr. Pepper laughs again. I open my mouth to ask Luna if she's used to the tortoise talking, but I change my mind after a moment when I hear the voice of one of the duelists from this Underground ring.

"Do betta next time!" the man shouts as the holograms fade away, blue wolf and gray ogre disappearing. His voice bears a heavy accent the origin of which I cannot place. But… it sounds familiar in my mind.

"Is that Joey Wheeler?!" someone says excitedly.

"Nah, that's his cousin Jesse! Joey died like twenty years ago!" another voice responds.

Joey Wheeler… why does that name ring so many bells to me? I look to Bastion, but he shakes his head and mouths, "Later," and then points to Leo and Dexter, and I feel my heart leap into my throat as I watch them plunge into a gap in the crowd.

"Leo!" Luna calls out as the mass of bodies surges and the gap closes behind them.

Releasing my careful grasp from her shoulder, I nudge her over to Bastion. Adrenaline starts flooding through me, and I can almost hear my Heroes urging me onward. Above the shouting and swearing of people who bet on the winner or the loser, I know that this isn't a place for kids. As Luna bumps into the old man, he looks to me, and a familiar look is on his face.

Determination. Trust. Heroics. _Go get them, Ben._

Using my elbow as a wedge, I dive into the crowd, pushing and weaving my way through the throng as I try to spot a glimpse of that ridiculous ponytail of Leo's, or Dexter's big red bowtie.

Dodging under the swinging arm of someone who didn't seem too keen on getting nudged out of the way, I catch sight of Leo's Duel Disk, loose and floppy on his arm. Naturally, the rest of Leo's body is attached to that arm, his body bent over as he stares directly into the eyes of an equally bent Dexter, the two seeming to be mid-argument.

"We can't go home now, Leo! All my sources say she'll be here, and I've got the perfect deck to take her out!" Dexter is saying, waving his arms animatedly.

"Think, Dex! You say that her monsters are real—how is that even possible?!" Leo responds, poking his friend's shoulder. "Besides, I'm not seeing Grandpa B anywhere, and—"

—And that's when the ground begins to shake. A sharp pain runs through my right arm, causing sharp jolts of lightning to surge up and down the limb, and forcing me to one knee as I bite my lip to keep from shouting.

"R-run! It's the Black Rose!" another person screams as the quaking increases.

Leo and Dexter quit their staring match and look in the direction of the person's voice, and following their gaze I see a vortex beginning to form deeper into the crowd—which is now beginning to disperse, all the ragged men breaking and running with terrified expressions. Moving against the current, I lurch into action, shoving my way in between running people to get to the two boys.

"Leo! Dexter!" I shout, causing them to turn their heads to meet my eyes, the wide round circles suggesting they might very well be in over their heads. Halfway from them, a sudden gust rippling outward pushes me off my balance, causing me to stumble. Dust obscures my vision for a brief moment, kicked up by the wind from nowhere; after wiping my eyes, I find that Leo and Dexter are gone, the bricks that were beneath their feet tossed about like the crumbs of smashed crackers, left in the wake of the track of something long and thick dragging through, or perhaps shooting out from under, the ground.

"BEN!" I hear Leo scream. Swiveling my head about like an owl, I finally spot the two of them clinging onto each other as they tumble through the air, on their way down toward the hard ground.

"I've got you!" I shout back, pushing myself back to my feet and rushing after them. More wind gusts slash at me, seeming to emanate from everywhere but also nowhere as I struggle to keep afoot. "I'm coming!"

Eventually, I'm smashed back down to the ground as the two land on top of me, forcing the breath out of me as Dexter slams down on my gut, Leo on my chest. My back aches, freshly exposed dirt is caked on my arms and legs and decorating my shirt, and my head swims as dust and debris cloud my vision again.

Turning my head to gaze into the area that all the men had been surrounding before, I see a massive cloud of dust kicked up, like the explosive result of a bomb, but as I look deeper into the expanding blanket, my blood runs cold.

As it starts to clear and thin, I see a pair of red eyes staring back at me. And those eyes are attached to something big, something _massive_, with an equally red maw full of sharp teeth, a long neck, and immense wings.

"A dragon…" I breathe, gently moving Dexter and Leo off and behind me, trying to shield them from anything that might come at us. _Shapeshift… what is that thing?_

_N-no idea, Boss…_ Shapeshift responds, also in awe at the thing towering over us. It roars, and I can almost feel Shapeshift retreating into my mind a bit. _U-uh… I'm gonna go check on the others. See if this has brought any of them out. I'll be back!_

_Wait—don't go! _I call after him, wondering if he'd really leave me like this, but that thought is quickly pushed aside by the shrieking pain in my arm, growing in intensity as I see it… glowing… "Wha…?"

Raising my arm in front of my face as I rock unsteadily on one knee, I see, etched in glowing red lines, some odd pattern. Two lines, one thick, one thin, stab outward diagonally along my arm, slowly curling in to form a shape like a hook, which curls in on itself several times over in rigid, jagged intervals, almost like a spiral. And it _burns._

"Ben, look!" I hear Leo shout from behind me, his arm appearing over my shoulder to point at something at the base of the dragon. A glowing light, brilliant and golden, radiating and pulsating like a winking star. "I-it's the Black Rose!"

I don't know what it is, but as the dust clears I find myself pushed to stand, moving forward despite Leo and Dexter's cries. I hear Bastion shouting for me too, even Dr. Pepper is yelling for me. But still I approach the dragon.

A voice, garbled and distorted, slashes through the air like the fierce winds that brought me to my knees. "You also have the Mark!" they shout, sounding somewhat like a girl.

"The Mark? Is that what this is…?" I call back, raising my arm and finding myself walking further toward her, called by some invisible force like a moth to a flame.

The person comes into view, a figure with a black cloak rippling and billowing like the dark waters of nighttime. From behind a bone-white mask streaked with red tears, eyes as red as the dragon's glare out at me, joined by sharp spikes of red hair peaking out from the edges of the cloak, three on each side like the tentacles of a squid. A red Duel Disk sits on her arm, the first slot occupied by a card with the white border of a Synchro monster.

Pure hatred radiates from this person as she shouts, "Stay away from me!"

A black gloved hand slashes out from the folds of her cloak, performing some odd gesture before she disappears in a tower of blinding white light, forcing me to cover my eyes. I find my knees buckling again, and before I know it, I'm on my butt once more. And when the light subsides…

"She's gone," I hear Bastion say from behind me, his voice lined with curiosity, and a bit of worry as he begins tending to the boys.

Luna comes up after him, grabbing my left arm and looking at me worriedly. "Are you alright, Ben…?" she asks, helping me find my balance.

"I… yeah… I'm alright. Thank you, Luna," I say, finally tearing my eyes away from the spot where she had just been.

The destruction caused by her dragon is… incredible. As we trek back toward the car, every inch of my body aching from the encounter, I can see the damage trailing hundreds of feet up and down the street. Doors ripped off hinges, more bricks torn from the ground in the wake of those long tracks, windows that weren't shattered, now shattered, metal railings torn, wires exposed, trees uprooted… if it weren't so terrible, it would be amazing to behold.

* * *

Six hours later, eleven at night, finds us back at the twins' home. Dexter and Leo were shaken, and a bit upset that they didn't get to duel the fabled Black Rose, but they were safe—and grateful for me saving them, but I waved that off, just happy they hadn't been hurt. Luna was thankful too, and wanted to make sure I hadn't been hurt too badly, but oddly enough once we got back home, I felt fine.

The wind rushes around me as I stand out on the balcony, looking out at the sky above, clear and full of stars, with a bright sickle moon hanging overhead… and as I look at it, my mind flashes to that mark on my arm. What on earth was that…?

I catch sight of that red star, that same one from the Satellite that always looked to be pulsating; I don't know why, but for some reason I never really grasped the idea that these were the same stars. Is Rally staring up at these, wondering about me? Is Yusei seeing them?

_Boss, shouldn't you be heading to bed too? It's getting late…_ I hear Shapeshift's nervous voice coming from the corner of my mind, almost as if he's hesitantly approaching.

_There he is. Come back already, you big chicken?_ I ask pointedly, feeling a flash of annoyance run through my mind.

_I… deserved that. I'm sorry, Ben. I just… it's… just been so long since we faced actual danger like that…_ he responds, and I find myself conjuring up the image of him standing with his hands folded behind his back, shifting anxiously on one leg and staring at the ground. _I kind of… shut down. I-I wasn't sure what to do, not without the others there to tell me… I'm sorry._

Sighing, I respond, _It's fine… not like I have a choice to forgive you anyway, huh? The sky is really pretty tonight._

_It… is,_ he says slowly, as if trying to sense a trap. _It's just like that first night at Duel Academy, when we met… uh… never mind._

_Met who?_ I ask, my initial anger subsiding in favor of curiosity. _Who, Morphy?_

_Gah—nobody! Slip of the tongue! Ignore what I said!_

_This is the only time I don't want to ignore what you said. Who did we meet that—_ but my thoughts are suddenly cut off by a loud crash from the street level.

* * *

The elevator ride down to the ground floor is agonizingly slow, my body jittering as I begin worrying about what might have caused that crash. My initial instincts told me to stay put, but some prodding from Shapeshift tells me that if someone is hurt, it's my duty to find out. What if they need medical help?

As soon as the doors slide open, I'm bursting out, halfway between the elevator and the entry of the parking garage before the doors are even fully closed. I clear the remaining distance in a few short bounds, before exiting into the cool night air and heading toward the western corner of the building, where the noise had come from.

Rounding the corner, I immediately see nothing as my eyes peer into the dark alleyway—but soon I hear a groan, and as I make my way to it, I stop in my tracks as I see the Duel Runner. Recognition glimmers in my eyes, and no sooner do I find it than I find the rider.

"Yusei?!"

* * *

**AND THERE WE HAVE IT FOLKS! I'm so, **_**so **_**sorry about the long wait for this, my job has had me doing 12-hour shifts for weeks, and I'm just now getting put on a normal, non-horrifying schedule. I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Was the pacing alright?**

**I won't take up too much of your time with this one. I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but wind up taking more of your time nonetheless, so this sentence is probably redundant.**

**Anyway, how are you folks liking the story so far? Has the quality been acceptable over this brief weird period? Let me know, I want to make sure you guys enjoy it! **

**We're starting to get close to the Fortune Cup arc! We've crossed paths with Ben's future love interest, and Yusei! Ben has a Mark, but what is it, and what does it do? Who's this person Shapeshift remembered meeting, on a night just like this? Why does Ben recognize the name Joey Wheeler-well actually this is kind of understandable. But why is no one else freaking out when Dr. Pepper talks?!  
**

**Find out, at some point in the future, on Stardust Accelerator: A Hero in Time! (Also, out of curiosity, has anyone recognized the title as a Legend of Zelda reference?)**

**Anyway, as always, take care, brrrrush yo hair, I'll see ya when I see ya, PEACE!**

**~Chase**


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